


Something Other than Human

by BeNotAfeard



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: M/M, Sexual Content, vampire related violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-09
Updated: 2012-07-09
Packaged: 2017-11-09 12:05:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 42,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/455257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeNotAfeard/pseuds/BeNotAfeard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where vampires have risen to take charge as the dominant species, the last of the human race has been forced into servitude and submission. With no job to pay for his mounting number of bills, Frank Iero is being forced to make some hard choices - get a job under the tyrannical reign of the very creatures responsible for the death of his great-grandfather, or be thrown onto the streets to be picked up and used for nothing more than a meal. His life, however, takes an unforeseen turn when he discovers a vampire in his best friend’s kitchen – a vampire who said best friend is not only friends with, but related to. The last thing he wants is to spend more time with Gerard Way. But Gerard has plenty of problems of his own, one being his desperate need to hire a secretary. And, well. Frank really needs a job.</p><p>As Gerard realises that hiring Frank only adds to his problems, Frank may have to come to terms with the fact that it isn’t only vampires who can be prejudice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Other than Human

**Author's Note:**

  * For [no_mutiny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/no_mutiny/gifts), [Halequinne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halequinne/gifts).



> For 0_mutiny_0, without whom, I probably would never have even finished this. You'll never understand how much you've helped me over last few months, and I really hope you enjoy the final product. Also, for halequinne - I'm not sure if you've had the chance to read this yet or not, so I hope you enjoy it! I love you both.
> 
> Thank so much to jokerindisguise for being an amazing beta, and for being super nice and supportive about everything. And to everyone on my flist who's had to listen to me whine about this for the past few months. You guys are the best. Everyone also needs to go check out my AMAZING mixes and art; I really couldn't have asked for more. This is my first year entering BBB, and thank you to the mods for putting up with my emails and questions, and for managing to get this all organised. This fic has been my baby for these last few months, and I really hope you all enjoy it!

*  
Frank stepped wearily off the bus, head bowed, hands shoved in pockets. Really, that hadn’t been a bad bus journey – there had still been spaces left in the section designated for humans, so he’d been allowed to sit – but still, feeling the eyes of the vampires on him, thinking he was scum, thinking he was beneath them, was always enough to kill his mood. Not that it had been high to begin with; this had not been a good day.

As the bus had taken him closer to the outskirts of the city, the houses became smaller, more run down. Boarded up or broken windows; something you would never see in the city centre, became a common occurrence. By the time the bus had dropped Frank off in his neighbourhood, the streets were grimy, filthy. The sky almost seemed to be darker, although he knew that was just his imagination. Yet, despite this, the further he travelled from the centre of the city, the safer he felt. Now, with his small, beat-up house in sight, Frank felt able to lift his head, a smile ghosting across his face. He was out of vampire territory. He was safe.

Frank unlocked the door – he was still in the habit of locking it, despite the fact that robbery amongst humans had decreased to almost non-existence in the past fifty years; and Frank would never be so foolish as to invite a vampire in – and closed it slowly behind him, leaning his head against it and closing his eyes. It had been such a shitty day. Frank didn’t even bother turning the lights on, just bounded up the stairs, changed out of his grubbily put together suit and into a more comfortable t-shirt and pants. Black Flag, he thought, smiling down at the writing inscribed on the band shirt. How he wished he’d been born into that era. An era where humans had control of the world, and vampires were just a thing of mythology.

Sighing, he left the house, and made his way to Bob’s. Frank didn’t like to be in his house for too long, with its failing electricity and neglected garden; it depressed him. Although, if he didn’t find a job soon, he supposed he wouldn’t have to be in his house at all. The Vamps would repossess it, and he’d be on the streets. He chuckled without humour – what would he do then? Hopefully Mikey would take him in. Mikey’s house was big enough for it anyway.

Bob owned the single human-only pub in the whole East side of the city, and was the only one of Frank’s friends who wasn’t struggling for money. Well, apart from Mikey, but they couldn’t all have rich relatives who died and left you with a shit load of cash. Not that Frank had any relatives left alive anyway. Bob’s pub, _The Drummer Boy_ , was going strong, and Frank couldn’t see that changing any time soon. _The Drummer Boy_ was one place you were sure you wouldn’t find vampires. Not that “human-only” meant that vampires were actually forbidden to use them – humans didn’t have that kind of authority – but they never did. Frank was sure there were lots of bigger, better pub’s in the city centre. Not that it made him love Bob’s place any less. If there were vacancies, Frank would work there in a second.

“Hit me,” he said heavily, collapsing onto an empty barstool. Tonight – tonight was a drinking night.

Ray was behind the counter, and he sighed when he saw Frank’s expression, “No luck?” he asked, “Jack?”

“Yes to the second, no to the first,” Frank laughed glumly. Ray didn’t. “I – I don’t really know what to do now.”

Ray looked hesitant, then said, cautiously, “Maybe… maybe you should see if you can get a job in the city. Temporarily,” he added quickly, “Just until you’ve got all your bills sorted out. It wouldn’t have to be cleaning, you could see if there was any secretarial work around? I – I know you don’t agree with us working for them, and I get that, I support that, but – ”

“Ray,” Frank interrupts, before his friend could get worked up too much, “I – I tried. I was in the city today.”

“Alone?” Ray squeaked, his hair seeming to rise in protest, “You went into the city alone?”

“You were just going to suggest it!” 

“Yeah, but I was going to say, take me or Mikey with you. Or Bob,” Ray said, his voice still higher than usual, “You went alo – Frankie, are you trying to become enthralled? One of them could have picked you up easily!”

“Let them try,” Frank muttered, then raised his hands when Ray scowled, “Joke, that was a joke! No, no, don’t be stupid. I was careful, I stuck to the shadows. Besides, most of them will have chosen a thrall by now. It’s been months since that law was passed. And they can’t take more than one, that’s the law.”

“Frank, you know as well as I do that they’re not sticking to the law,” Ray said, sighing, “Of course some of them are taking multiple thralls. I can’t believe you’d be so careless.”

“I need a job, Ray,” Frank snapped, “I’m pretty desperate. Do you think I wanted to go into the city? Do you think I wanted ask them for help?”

“No, I –sorry,” Ray sighed again, then asked hesitantly, “Well… what did they say at the Job Centre?”

Frank’s expression darkened, “Cleaning. That’s all that’s available at the moment. Fucking cleaning.”

“Frank, cleaning a shop wouldn’t be all that – ”

“Oh no,” Frank interrupted, “Not shop-cleaning. House cleaning. I’d rather be chucked on the streets than be a maid to a fucking vampire. No. Not happening.” He scowled down at the surface of the table, and heard Ray sigh again. He braced himself, ready for a lecture.

“No, you’re right,” Ray said, looking angry, “They can’t expect us to clean their houses. That’s slavery.”

“Well, we are the minority,” Frank said, only half joking.

“Just because there are more of them, does not make us the minority,” Ray said, smiling, “I think those are your words, right?”

“Right.” Frank rolled his eyes, but his lips curled up into a smile.

“I wish I could help, Frank,” Ray said sadly, “Bob says, as soon as there’s a vacancy, it’s yours.”

Frank nodded his thanks, even though they both knew that the only reason anyone would leave a job at _The Drummer Boy_ would be if they died.

“Where’s Mikey?” Frank said, scanning the bar. 

He could see Bob, talking with Andy and Joe. They were here a lot, ever since Patrick disappeared three months ago. No one had said it aloud, but everyone knew he’d been enthralled. Some vamps let their human – because once you were a thrall, that was what you were. Theirs. – keep their old lives, just using them when they were hungry. Others, others took a different approach. Frank knew that wasn’t what the Council had intended when they’d passed the law, but technically, the vamps were sticking to it, only feeding off one human. Even if that meant the human had to live like some sort of fucked up pleasure slave. No one wanted admit that that horror – the ultimate horror – had most likely been bestowed upon Patrick, but Frank knew it. 

He shuddered. He’d prefer death to enthrallment – everyone in the bar would.

So Bob, with Joe and Andy. Quinn and Jeph were nearby. If Mikey was here, he’d be with them.

“Speak of the devil,” Ray said, nodding his head towards the entrance. Frank turned his head, to see Mikey himself making his way towards them. He was grinning at Frank, but there were dark circles under his eyes that hadn’t been there last time Frank had seen him. Which had only been two days ago.

“MikeyWay, you were supposed to meet me here an hour ago,” Frank scowled, as Mikey collapsed onto the seat next to him. His body language was similar to Frank’s, except that Frank needed to find a job before he was evicted. Mikey had enough money that he didn’t have to work.

“Sorry,” Mikey said, bumping Frank’s shoulder, “Something came up.”

“What came up?” Frank asked, folding his arms.

Mikey hesitated, before muttering, “Nothing. Family stuff.”

Family stuff? That was a lie. Mikey, like Frank, didn’t have any family. But whatever, if Mikey wanted to keep secrets, Frank could accept that. Well, he’d accept it for now.

“How’d the job hunt go?” Mikey asked.

Frank pulled a face, “It’s housemaiding or nothing at the moment.”

Mikey frowned, confused, then shook his head in disgust, “They want you to clean a vamp’s house? What, are they too lazy to do it themselves anymore?”

“According to the lady at the Job Centre, it’s ‘creating new job opportunities’,” Frank rolled his eyes, “The human lady at the Job’s Centre, may I add. It’s disgusting that most of us have to work for them, do the jobs none of them want to do.”

Mikey nodded in agreement, “Creating new job opportunities my ass. You’re better than that, Frankie.”

Frank nodded, then sighed, “So I guess it’s back to square one.”

Mikey hesitated, “You know… I could lend you the money, just for you to pay the bills this month – ”

“Fuck you,” Frank laughed grimly, “I’m not a charity case.”

“I know, but – ”

“No, Mikey. Thanks though.” It wasn’t the first time Mikey had offered him money, but Frank was not that kind of person. “I do, however, count on a space on your couch when they kick me out.”

Mikey laughed, “It’s a done deal.” Then he looked sombrely at Frank, “It won’t come to that. You’ll find a job soon.”

Frank sighed. He wasn’t so sure about that. 

*

It wasn’t always like this.

Everyone knew the story of the Uprising, how vampires rose to become the dominant species and left any humans still alive cowering in their shadows. Frank thought he knew it better than most though. It was a tale told many a time during Frank’s childhood – despite the ultimate defeat, Frank’s family told the story of the martyr death of the Iero of that time, Frank’s namesake, with great pride.

The origin of the vampire gene was still unknown. Whether a freak mutation, or disease, or some sort of fucked up experiment – in the end, it wasn’t the cause that mattered, but the effect. How quickly it spread was unknown too, just that the population of vampires grew and grew, until there were enough to make a difference. If the Government were aware of them, the public were never told. Frank couldn’t decide which was worse – them knowing and not warning people, or being unaware, and taken by surprise. Either way, they were completely unprepared when the Uprising happened.

2019\. That was the official year. Again, the details were blurry – Frank wasn’t sure whether this was always the planned year, or whether the vampires just decided that year they could win. At this point, there were still more humans than vampires in America, by a long shot, but the vampires had their advantages. Enhanced strength, speed – plus the fangs and ability to suck the life out of their opponents didn’t hurt.

The motive wasn’t clear either, but that one wasn’t hard to figure out. Frank supposed the vampires were sick of living in the shadows, unknown, the minority race. He could relate.

After the Government went down, it was easy. People were terrified, confused, panicking. It was all over relatively quickly, the end of the human race. People were either turned, or killed. Frank knew which option he’d prefer. Apparently the same one his great-grandfather took.

Once it became apparent that it wasn’t going to take much longer before the human race was completely extinct, the newly elected Council – why not just call themselves the Government? Frank thought bitterly, that’s what they are, after all – took action. A law was passed. Vampires were not allowed to kill or turn humans. If they did they would be reprimanded as if they had killed one of their own. Charged with murder.

Frank personally thought that it would have been better to wipe them out, than make them live in submission. But if that happened, how would the vampires feed? Frank didn’t actually know whether they could survive on animal blood, or the blood of their own. They always chose to feed on humans.

So the years passed, and vampires became more dominant as humans sank further into the shadows. Relocated to the outskirts of the cities. Fired from positions of any importance. It didn’t take long for the segregation to become complete. Vampires viewed humans as beneath them, their only use being their blood. And then the enthrallment started.

Prolonged feeding between the same vampire and human produced certain side effects that weren’t noticeable at first. Side effects such as compliancy, allowing the vampire to take your blood, something Frank had always thought must be a horrible experience that he ranked on a par with rape. Such as willingness to follow any orders the vampire directed at you. Such as any thoughts of dissatisfaction, discontent with your lot in life being driven from your head. In short, your free will being taken away from you. Becoming what the vampires wanted all humans to become: completely submissive to them.

It was only in the past few months that the “One thrall for life” law was passed. The enthrallment was getting out of hand. Too many humans were becoming enthralled. And with the ever increasing vampire population – Frank did not know how they were getting around the law, but they were – there was the problem of humans becoming thralls to more than one vampire. Humans’ brains could not deal with that. It mostly drove them to insanity.

So the law was passed. Pick a thrall and stick to it. One thrall for life. Although, of course, the life referred to the human’s lifespan, not the vampires.

Frank could not understand how he lived in a society that allowed people to be used, abused, fed on; that this wasn’t just accepted but encouraged. Then he answered his own question: when you lived in a society run by the people doing the abusing. The vampires doing the abusing. They were not and never would be people. Not by Frank’s definition of the word anyway.

Frank turned over in bed and tried a new position. This wasn’t working. He wasn’t sleeping anytime soon. Frank always thought of the Uprising when he couldn’t sleep. What his life would have been like if it hadn’t happened. What he would have done if he was alive when it did happen. He thought of his grandfather, how proud he looked when he spoke of his father, and wished that he was still alive. He missed him.

Sleeping was hard with the job search constantly on his mind. It wasn’t that he didn’t realise that the money was running out, he just thought something would have changed - that a new law would have been passed, a better law, a law that allowed him to do any job he chose, rather than accept whatever was available - before it ran out. He was wrong. And now he was screwed.

Plus, there was Mikey. Mikey had been hiding something earlier. Frank didn’t know what was up, but it sure as hell wasn’t “family stuff.”

He resolved to find out tomorrow. That was the last conscious thought he had.

*

Frank waited until the following evening before making his way to Mikey’s house. He figured that any time before noon and Mikey would still be in bed, and that he may as well wait until the time Mikey was supposed to be meeting Frank the day before. When he said he was held up.

Mikey’s house had always been a mystery to Frank. It was by far the biggest house any human Frank knew owned, off their own back. There were a few thralls that had big houses – thralls with generous owners – but Frank didn’t really count thralls as human. You weren’t human if you didn’t have free will, not in Frank’s eyes. And as far as Frank knew, Mikey had never worked a day in his life.

Before Frank knew Mikey well, he’d thought that Mikey was doing what he was doing. Rebelling against the system and refusing to work when he couldn’t freely choose what he wanted to do. It was only as they got closer that Frank realised that Mikey simply didn’t have to work – apparently some relative had died leaving Mikey a windfall of cash, although he never went into specifics about this. Family was a touchy subject; all Frank knew was that Mikey didn’t have any.

Frank considered Mikey his closest friend, but there were so many things about him that were shrouded in mystery. Namely, what he was doing yesterday and why he wouldn’t tell Frank.

Mikey’s house was pretty cool; one of those old, symmetrical houses with wooden panelling from an era long past. Normally Frank loved visiting. But tonight, as Frank approached the front balcony, he was struck with a feeling of unease. He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he knew it couldn’t be good.

The front door was unlocked; Mikey, like most people, wasn’t in the habit of locking doors like Frank was, so Frank opened it and peered in cautiously. He couldn’t see anything amiss, but could hear voices coming from down the hall – in the kitchen, maybe? Frank hesitated – this could be completely innocent, Mikey could just have a friend round. Then Frank would feel like an idiot. Maybe he should just leave now? But curiosity got the better of him, and he slowly made his way towards the source of the voices, trying to be as quiet as he could.

Whatever he was preparing for when the kitchen came into view, it was not this.

On the surface, nothing appeared too out of place. There were two people in the kitchen; one was Mikey, the other a dark haired man, shorter than Mikey and not as skinny. Nothing too out of place, if Frank didn’t have the trait common to both humans and vampires: the ability to sense which species one was. 

Mikey had a _vampire_ in his _kitchen_.

“What the fuck?” Frank said stupidly.

Mikey and the other man – vampire, Frank corrected mentally, not man. It isn’t a man – started, and whipped their heads towards the source of noise. Mikey’s mouth fell open in what looked like horror; the vampire just looked shocked.

Frank’s mind was running on overdrive – if he could get to the chair, would he have time to break off a leg to use as a stake before the vampire killed him? Probably not, but it was worth a shot, right? Better to go down fighting. What was Mikey thinking?

“Why the fuck did you invite it in?” was all Frank could think to say, before he was moving, moving towards the chair, gesturing to Mikey to _get the fuck back_ at the same time.

He’d moved maybe half a step before the vampire reacted. Before Frank could take another breath, he was across the room, pinned to the wall, the vampire’s hands digging into his shoulders. It let out a truly horrific snarl, fangs bared, pupils blown, and Frank’s blood froze in terror – this was it, he was going to die – 

“Gee - Gerard, no!” Mikey’s voice was panicked, “No, no, don’t hurt him! It’s just Frank – ”

 _Just Frank?_ Frank would be offended if he wasn’t scared out of his mind. But the vampire had dropped his shoulders, was stepping back, hands in the air. Its skin was pale, paler than Mikey’s even, and that combined with the long, straggly hair made it look like such a walking cliché that Frank almost smiled. Almost.

“What – what the everloving fuck?” he asked shakily instead.

“I can explain,” Mikey said quickly.

“ _Gerard?_ ” Frank questioned, his voice sounding louder than normal, “Why – why the fuck is there a vampire in your house? Mikey – what – what is it doing here?”

“I’m taking offence to being called “it”,” the vampire who was apparently called Gerard said, “just so you know.” His – its - voice took Frank by surprise; it was soft, gentle. Frank couldn’t remember the last time he’d spoken to a vampire, but that was not the sort of voice he’d imagined one having.

“He’s – he’s my brother, Frank,” Mikey said desperately.

Wait. What?

“ _What?_ ” Frank couldn’t remember ever being this confused.

“Well, not brother,” Mikey amended, “We’re related though.”

“I’m his great-great uncle,” Gerard supplied.

“Don’t talk to me!” Frank snapped, sparing Gerard another contemptuous glance, before turning back to Mikey, who looked pained.

Gerard made a low, hissing sound, and Frank looked back to see his expression darkening. He should remember that Gerard had the ability to snap his neck, drain his life, whenever he chose to. Frank held up his hands.

“Uh, I guess that was rude,” he said, trying to sound apologetic, “I’m just – I – you’re a vampire, dude.”

“I’d noticed,” Gerard said dryly, his lips curled into an ironic smile. Frank didn’t smile back, and after a while, Gerard’s smile faded too.

“Explain.” Frank said to Mikey, folding his arms.

Mikey and Gerard shared a glance. Frank’s head was reeling. He’d grown up hating vampires. He was taught that the whole race was malicious, superior, and thought of humans only as a way for them to feed. Yet here was his best friend – _best friend_ – apparently not only on speaking terms with a vampire, but… friends with one?

“Uh,” Mikey looked nervous, which was unlike him, “Frank, look, I know how you feel about vampires, but just – Gerard’s different, okay - ?”

“Different,” Frank scoffed, “Of course he is.”

“You need to stop doing that,” Mikey warned. Frank glanced at Gerard to see that his eyes were dark, his expression frosty. 

“I think I’m going to leave now,” Gerard said to Mikey, sparing Frank another glare, “I don’t take well to being insulted by a human.”

Frank’s hands curled into fists.

“No, you two, stop it!” Mikey snapped, “Sit down, both of you.”

Frank blinked in surprise – Mikey, raising his voice? When had that ever happened before? He sat down at the table obediently, and Gerard copied him, apparently equally stunned.

“Okay,” Mikey said, “Look, Frank – I really was never planning on telling anyone this. But now that you’re here, you need to understand. And Gerard? This is my best friend, Frank Iero. I’m going to be very pissed off if you kill him or harm him in any way, okay? So will both of you get over your prejudices and listen to me?”

Frank found himself nodding along, despite his brain protesting. Him, prejudice? How was he the prejudice one? Gerard was the vampire, his species was the one in control.

“I met Gerard about four years ago,” Mikey said, his voice back to its usual unreadable monotone, “And believe me, Frank, I had a similar reaction to you when I first saw him – well, maybe not quite as violent as yours, but I certainly didn’t trust him straight away. Trust is earned. And Gerard’s trustworthy, okay Frank? He won’t hurt you.”

Frank glanced at Gerard again, expecting another glare, and instead finding the vampire looking at him with an open expression, his eyes wide and almost sincere. Frank looked away. He’d spent years separating vampires and humans in his mind. He didn’t like to think of vampires as capable of qualities such as trust or kindness.

“Why was he even here?” Frank directed his question at Mikey, “The outskirts are ours. You already own most of every city, let us keep what’s ours,” he shot at Gerard, whose expression flickered – into what, Frank couldn’t tell.

“I was visiting Elena,” Gerard said, “My- my grandmother,” he clarified, “This was where I lived before I was turned. She’s buried in the garden – I come and visit her every so often. I’d – I’d never been spotted before, but that’s Mikey for you. He has vampire instincts,” he smiled fondly at Mikey, who rolled his eyes, not taking offence to what Frank would take as an insult.

“Well… why did you stick around?” Frank asked, even though he knew the answer to that question already. The vampire seemed to have an affection for Mikey, as did Mikey for him. It was almost like they actually were brothers. Gerard confirmed what Frank was thinking.

“Because I came to love him,” he said, smiling at Mikey, “how could anyone not?” He was looking at Mikey proudly, and Frank had to look away. He didn’t know how to process this information. In any other situation, he’d say that Gerard was lying, except – this was Mikey. Mikey wasn’t fooled by anyone. And the way Mikey was looking at Gerard was the epitome of brotherly love.

“Shut up, Gee,” Mikey rolled his eyes, before looking at Frank cautiously, “Frank, I know that everyone hates vampires, and I know that your reasons are justified. Most of them are scum –” Gerard flinched at looked down at the table, and Mikey rolled his eyes again, “Don’t pull that face, Gerard, you know it’s true. Isn’t that why you’re here so often?”

Gerard looked up at Frank, with what seemed to be a nervous expression. Which didn’t make any sense. He was the stronger, faster of the two. Why should he be nervous of Frank?

“I’m not going to tell him everything,” Mikey said quietly, “But he needs to understand.”

 _Tell me what? ___Frank thought. He had no idea. But Gerard was still looking at him with that same, unreadable expression, and Frank felt compelled to speak.

“I – I think I do understand. Or I understand enough. Trust Mikey to have a secret vampire brother.” Mikey snorted, and Gerard seemed to relax a little, “I’m not saying I like it, or want anything to do with it, but I get it. I won’t say anything to Ray or the others. They wouldn’t believe it unless they saw it.”

Frank didn’t know why he was saying that. The first thing he should do after he leaves is alert the guys at Bob’s. They’d drive Gerard back to his part of town – with a group of them against just one vamp they could do it. But – Frank didn’t want to. Mikey clearly wouldn’t be happy with it, and… Gerard honestly didn’t seem dangerous. If he’d been around Mikey for four years and not taken him as a thrall – and Mikey was no thrall, that Frank knew – then he wasn’t likely to now. And Mikey had made it clear that Gerard wasn’t to hurt Frank.

“Thank you, Frank,” Gerard spoke, in the soft voice he’d used earlier. He stood, moving over the table to hug Mikey – Frank tried to repress a shudder and mostly succeeded – and raised a hand in Frank’s direction.

“I’ll leave you two now, you probably have things to talk about.”

“Don’t let them get to you,” Mikey said, in a low voice that Frank wasn’t sure he was meant to here.

“I know who I am,” Gerard replied simply. He looked at Frank again, his expression unreadable, before exiting the kitchen. Frank heard the door open and close a moment later, and turned back to Mikey.

“Couldn’t help but eavesdrop, could you Frank?” Mikey didn’t sound mad, just resigned.

“I – I’m sorry for that,” Frank said, “but I knew something was up – I just didn’t know quite how up.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Mikey said, his voice rising slightly, “There’s no rule against vampires and humans being on friendly terms, just because most choose to segregate themselves –”

“It’s hardly choice on our side,” Frank said dryly, “But I didn’t mean it that way. There’s - something wrong with him, isn’t there? You don’t have to tell me, I don’t particularly care,” he added quickly, when Mikey looked surprised, “I could just tell.”

Mikey laughed quietly, “You were always good at reading me,” he said, “You must just be good at reading Ways.” Frank wasn’t sure he liked the thought of that. “Yeah, he’s having a hard time. When I said I was having family trouble the other day I wasn’t lying.”

Frank raised his eyebrows. He said he wouldn’t ask, so he wouldn’t – but what could a vampire possible have to worry about? They had everything. This had been a confusing night.

“I think I need to go home and process this,” Frank said, smiling slightly, “I’m serious though, Mikes, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Thanks,” Mikey said, moving to hug Frank, “You’re a good friend.”

***

As soon as Gerard had shut Mikey’s front door, he was flying. (Not literally; contrary to popular belief, vampires couldn’t actually turn into bats and fly into the night.) He ran, trying to get as far away from his old house, from _him ___, as he could.

Gerard finally stopped, still in the outskirts of the city, and sank to the floor against a wall. It was much less likely for humans to be roaming the streets at night than vampires, and he didn’t want to noticed by anyone.

So, to top off the shitty day he’d had in a shitty week in the shittiest few months he could remember since he met Mikey, now Gerard had a human to worry about. A human who, despite what he’d said to Mikey, Gerard did not trust when it came to keeping his relationship with Mikey a secret from his friends. Not that there was a law against it, but vampires and humans being on friendly terms was frowned upon, on both sides. Gerard knew that if Frank told, then he would be forced to stay away from Mikey. And if he didn’t have Mikey, Gerard didn’t know what he’d do.

And why did it have to be that particular human? _Frank Iero_. That was a name Gerard didn’t think he’d ever hear again. Gerard wondered if Frank was named after his… it’d be great-grandfather, wouldn’t it? His great-grandfather. It was probable. He thought of Frank, the old Frank, the one Gerard knew, and felt a lump form in his throat. Gerard hadn’t been aware that Frank’s son had survived the Uprising. Mikey had never mentioned any of his friends’ surnames before.

Of course, Gerard had known as soon as he’d seen Frank, before Mikey had confirmed it with the name. Frank had the same features as his great-grandfather – different hairstyle; the Frank Gerard knew would never have had monochromatic hair. But Gerard supposed hair-dye was harder to come by these days, if you were human. He was younger too, than the Frank Gerard had known. Closer to Mikey’s age than the age Gerard was before he was turned. Frank Iero. Gerard had let himself forget – had made himself forget.

Gerard dropped his head into his hands. He couldn’t deal with this right now. Not on top of everything else.

It was a long time before he moved from that position.

*

The next morning, Gerard was up, showered, had taken his daylight pills and was in his office by nine. He was in the process of answering his emails, when a voice from the doorway interrupted him.

“You know, if you just hired a secretary, you wouldn’t have to do boring shit like that.”

Gerard narrowed his eyes at the long-haired figure in front of him, “I don’t want a secretary, Bert, I’ve told you.”

Bert raised his eyebrows, sceptical, “No, you just don’t want a human working for you. If vampires still did secretarial jobs you’d have someone hired in a flash.”

Gerard gritted his teeth. He hated how easily Bert could see through him.

“It’s pathetic, really, Gerard,” Bert continued, a smirk on his face, “Besides, you know there are humans begging for jobs. You’d actually be doing them a favour.”

Gerard knew this. But that wasn’t the point. It was the principle of the matter. He’d advertised for a new secretary, specifying vampire only. Not many vampires wanted simple secretarial jobs these days though. The law restricting humans on their career options had given most vampires a false sense of superiority. Gerard hated how fucked up the society he lived in was.

“So,” Bert said casually, “I didn’t see you with out with Pete and the others last night.” 

Gerard’s eyes narrowed. While he knew that Bert had no idea where he’d actually been, he knew that Bert was suspicious. And while there was nothing that Bert could report him for if he were to find out, Gerard wasn’t going to risk Mikey’s safety like that. He knew Bert would do anything to cross Gerard, even if it meant breaking the law and feeding on Mikey.

“When have I ever liked socialising? Besides, I was with my thrall,” Gerard lied.

Bert raised an eyebrow in a clear, _I don’t believe you_ , gesture. “You don’t want to go getting to attached to it now, Gerard. Anyway, Pete has his out with him last night. You could have brought it along.”

“Bert, I stay out of your business, please stay out of mine,” Gerard snapped.

Bert’s expression darkened, and Gerard inwardly smirked. He knew all about Bert’s night time activities, and knew that the Council would not be happy if they were to find out.

“The humans can’t deal with it, Bert. That law was passed for their safety.”

“Come on, Gerard. We both know that wasn’t why the law was passed.” Gerard scowled at Bert. Of course he knew that. Still, that didn’t make it right.

“Just leave.”

“Shame you have no secretary to order me out.”

“Bert, fuck off.”

Bert smirked, “I’ll see you later, Gerard. You keep that thrall of yours safe. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to it.”

Gerard glared at the door after Bert had closed it, but spared himself an ounce of relief. He didn’t know what Bert would do if he found out that Gerard didn’t have a thrall. Well, he did. Report him. There was nothing in the law that specifically stated that vampires had to pick a thrall; however, he knew that stealing blood bags from hospitals would not be approved of. Stealing was a crime in every society.

Gerard stayed deep in thought for the rest of day. He didn’t know what he was going to do. Supplying himself with blood had worked since the law had been passed, but he knew that could only go on for so long. And, as much as he hated to admit it, blood bags were nowhere near as satisfying as fresh blood. Yet, taking away a human’s free will? Making a slave of them? Gerard could not do that, would not do that. No way.

Back in his apartment that evening, he counted the blood bags. Eight. Four more days before he’d have to steal more. Gerard felt the wave of despair in the back of his mind, but resisted the urge to run to Mikey’s as he usually did when he felt like this. Mikey helped him remember that he was doing the right thing, made him see how corrupted the Council had become. The thought of Mikey losing his free will made Gerard want to throw up. But now Frank fucking Iero knew about him, and maybe visiting Mikey so soon wasn’t smart.

The thought of Frank made Gerard’s thoughts halt. Mikey had mentioned that Frank couldn’t find a job, hadn’t he? Gerard was pretty sure that was Frank. Maybe if Gerard offered Frank a job, he wouldn’t tell anyone about him and Mikey. Gerard didn’t know what he’d do if he couldn’t see Mikey anymore – Mikey was his brother, despite the distant bloodline. Gerard loved him.

Frank wouldn’t like it, Gerard knew that. He could tell just by watching Frank the day before that Frank hated everything to do with vampires. But if he could understand that it would help him – could they make some sort of deal? A job in return for his silence? Gerard hated the thought of a human working for him… but if it allowed him to see Mikey, he could deal with it.

Plus, he had to admit, he wanted to see Frank again. He reminded Gerard so much of his ancestor; the same fire, anger and contempt for the system. And okay, this time round his anger was directed _at_ Gerard, but still. Gerard couldn’t help being drawn to him.

At least that would solve one of his problems. And get Bert off his back.

 _That could work_ , Gerard thought. Now the only obstacle was getting Frank to agree.

***

Frank hadn’t slept well once he’d gotten home from Mikey’s. In fact, he’d hardly slept at all. Thoughts of Mikey, and Gerard, and having to keep a vampire secret from his friends spun around in his head, and after he’d finally drifted off to sleep, he’d woken up in a sweat, sure he’d had a nightmare, but unable to remember what it was.

The following day was not a good one. His electricity bill arrived, which he didn’t have enough money to pay for. Frank was going to miss having electricity. But at least he still had a house. The hours passed, and instead of going out and searching for a job – what was the point? He’d been trying that for weeks – he found himself back at The _Drummer Boy_.

“Frank, let one of us pay your bill. Just for this month,” Ray voice was taking on a pleading note, which Frank steadfastly ignored.

“I am not letting anyone pay my bills for me. Seriously, I’ll be fine, I’ll figure something out.”

“What will you figure out, Frank?” Mikey’s face was dark.

“I don’t know!” Frank snapped, “Look, I have a lot on my mind at the moment, I’m not sleeping well, and I’d really like for us to stop talking about this. Okay?”

Mikey’s face took on a guilty look, as Ray nodded, “Of course. Just, let us know if you end up in trouble, Frank. Promise?”

Frank nodded shortly and picked up his drink.

As Frank left the pub later on that night, Mikey grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“You didn’t…?” he trailed off, looking questioning.

Frank sighed, “No, I didn’t tell anyone about your precious Gerard.”

Mikey sighed, “I didn’t want you to know, Frank. You walked right into it yourself. But, thank you. He needs me at the moment, okay? I – I don’t know what he’d do if he didn’t have me right now.”

Frank tried very hard to remain uninterested, but… his curiosity was spiked.

“Is he – okay? I mean… what’s wrong with him?”

Mikey sighed again, “It’s not really for me to tell. Ask him yourself.”

Frank stared, “Ask him myself? When exactly would I do that? I’m never going to see him – it – again.”

The look Mikey gave him before turning away in the direction of his house was completely unreadable. Frank shrugged to himself, and walked home.

*

The answer to that question, it turned out, was that Frank would see Gerard the very next day.

It was still morning, but late enough that Frank really had no excuse for still being in bed. The doorbell shook Frank out of his thoughts of money and jobs and whether or not he was going to have to swallow his pride and let Bob pay his bills. No one rang his doorbell. He wasn’t even aware that it still worked.

Pulling on some pants and the first shirt he could find – only worn once, so still passable as clean, he made his way downstairs and opened the door. And froze.

A vampire was standing at his front door. Well, Gerard was standing at his front door, but Frank’s mind was screaming vampire! at him, and all Frank could do was take a jerky step backwards, making sure he was well in the threshold of his house.

Gerard seemed to notice this, and held up his hand, as if to say, I mean no harm. Yeah, okay. Frank was sure that was what every vampire did before they fed on someone.

“Hey, Frank.” Gerard’s voice surprised Frank, as it had last time he’d heard him speak. Stilted, and awkward; he almost sounded nervous. Although that would make no sense – Gerard was the stronger and more powerful species here, not Frank.

“What do you want.” It wasn’t a question. Frank was surprised at how harsh his voice sounded, and Gerard flinched away from it. Frank was also surprised that he felt slightly guilty because of that.

“Sorry… I just. Why are you here?”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to pretend to be nice,” Gerard’s voice sounded weird, strained. He ran a hand through his hair, then started fiddling with a strand. Frank was struck again by how pale he was; even though he was walking in the day, it was obvious what he was.

“I was… look, I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in or something?”

Frank’s mouth dropped open. Was that how Gerard did it then? Played at being awkward and endearing, and then waited until he was actually invited in to strike? 

Something must have shown on his face, or maybe he’d taken a step back – he didn’t actually know. But Gerard’s face, if possible, paled even more, and his eyes widened, “Oh god – I didn’t mean… I don’t want – I’m sorry. Stupid thing to say. I just want – I need to ask you something, and I’d rather not do it over your doorstep.”

Frank frowned. Gerard sounded sincere, he didn’t doubt that – but every instinct he had was screaming at him to not trust a vampire. Plus, what was it that Gerard wanted to talk about so badly? Frank honestly thought that he’d never see him – it, again.

“I promised Mikey that I wouldn’t hurt you,” Gerard said, his voice low, “I would never hurt you anyway, Frank, but I know that you won’t accept that – so accept this. I would never break a promise to Mikey.”

Frank hesitated, “I’m not letting you in… but I’ll come out. We can talk outside.”

Taking the first step into the open air, half of Frank still expected Gerard to lunge at him, like he did when Frank had thought that he was attacking Mikey. But Gerard stayed where he was, hands still in the air. Stayed where it was. He’d subconsciously started to think of Gerard as a “he.” Stupid. Although it was a lot harder to refer to someone as ‘it’ when they were standing in front of you, looking, well, mostly human.

Gerard’s mouth turned up ever so slightly, and he followed Frank down his small, unruly garden to the brick wall that lined the houses of Frank’s street, each as run down and worn as the next one. Frank sat down, and Gerard copied him, looking about cautiously. Frank supposed, it was dangerous for Gerard to be here, in broad daylight, and (hopefully) alone. Which brought him back to – 

“What did you want to talk to me about?” It was strange, trying to be polite to a member of the species you’d grown up hating. But if Gerard could be civil to him, which he certainly was being, then so could Frank.

Gerard bit his lip and focused on something behind Frank. His hands were twisting in his lap, and Frank realised with a start that he was nervous.

“Is Mikey okay?” Frank asked, breaking the silence.

“What? Yes, he is,” Gerard’s voice was distracted, his brow furrowed, and he lapsed back into silence, before blurting out, “Come work for me?”

Frank’s mind went black. What? What? Whatever Frank had expected Gerard to say – not that he’d had much of an idea what it would be – it wasn’t that. Gerard was offering Frank… a job? A vampire. Offering Frank a job?

“What?” was all Frank could think to say.

“I, uh,” Gerard was speaking quickly, rushing to get everything out, “I need a secretary, at work, and Mikey says you need a job, and I thought… well, I guess – it could work for both of us?”

Frank’s jaw tightened, “Mikey talked to you about that?” A wave of anger that he couldn’t explain crashed over him, and he stood up jerkily, “Well, you can tell Mikey that I’m not a charity case and that I can solve my own problems without his help.”

Frank turned back towards his house, but Gerard gripped his arm and held him in place. Frank froze. Had he overstepped his mark? He had to remember that this was a vampire he was talking to. It was too easy to forget around Gerard.

Gerard dropped Frank’s arm immediately when he saw the expression on Frank’s face, but launched into speech anyway, “No, don’t go! Mikey didn’t tell me to come here; he doesn’t know I’m doing this. I - I don’t know much about your situation, Mikey mentioned it to me a while ago, before I knew who you were. I don’t think you’re a charity case. I just need a secretary and – and you need a job. Think about it. It makes sense.”

Frank paused, looking at Gerard, who was staring at Frank so earnestly that he couldn’t help but believe him. 

“I – why are you asking me?” Frank asked, warily. He wasn’t sure about this. Yes, he did need a job, that much was evident. And here was one being offered to him. But accepting it would effectively be putting his trust in Gerard, in a vampire, and Frank wasn’t sure if he could do that, “You must know how few jobs there are around. Why don’t you already have someone working for you? And why me?”

Gerard looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Frank to ask that. He hesitated, then slowly said, “In answer to your first question, I don’t – agree with a human working for me.”

Frank raised an eyebrow. He knew that some vampires were so proud that they couldn’t bear the thought of a human working for them, but he hadn’t thought that Gerard would fit in that category. Gerard continued before Frank could spare it much more thought, though.

“And in answer to your second – I won’t pretend that I don’t have a selfish reason behind this. I was hoping… that maybe we could strike a deal? In return for the job, your silence on my visiting Mikey?”

“So it’s going to be blackmail, then?” Frank scowled. He wasn’t going to tell anyone about Gerard, he’d promised Mikey – and Gerard wasn’t the only one who would never break a promise to Mikey. But Gerard didn’t know that, Frank reminded himself. 

“No, no!” Gerard bit his lip again, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m getting this all wrong. I’m not blackmailing you, I’m not threatening you. I need a secretary, and I know you need a job. I was just hoping it might make you… trust me, a bit more. Enough not to tell your other friends.”

“I don’t trust you,” Frank said immediately, and didn’t understand it when he felt bad that Gerard looked at the floor, his shoulders hunched, “But I’ll accept the job offer, if that’s okay.”

Gerard looked back up, a small smile on his face. Not enough to show his fangs – and ugh, that was so not the right way to be thinking when Frank had just agreed to work for this guy.

“Really?” he said, “Can you start tomorrow? I’ll write down the address. Is it… safe, for you to get into the city?”

Frank almost smiled at the last part, “I can. I have nothing better to do, anyway. And I’ll be fine. I’m a big boy.”

That made Gerard laugh, although he sobered up quickly, a sad look passing over his face, “Remember that, though. You’re just a boy.”

Frank didn’t quite know how to respond to that, and Gerard had stood up, anyway. He nodded to Frank, and said, “I shall – see you tomorrow then,” and began to walk away, hands deep in pockets.

“Uh, Gerard?” Frank called.

Gerard turned back, a surprised look on his face, and Frank realised that was the first time he’d said Gerard’s name out loud.

“Thank you,” Frank said quietly. Gerard nodded once, and then he was gone.

***

“I don’t really understand.”

Gerard ran a hand through his already rumpled hair, for what felt like the millionth time that day. Mikey was sat opposite him in their usual spots in the kitchen. Part of Gerard was hoping for Frank to come bursting in again, even though he knew he was last person Frank would want to see twice in one day. Mikey was staring at him, brow furrowed.

“I mean,” he continued, “I’m really grateful that you’d do that for Frank. We’ve been getting so worried about him. He’s such a stubborn asshole, he’d never have accepted help from us.”

That was true, Gerard thought. When Frank had thought that this was a set up by Mikey, his immediate reaction was to reject the help. But after Gerard had explained that he wanted to make a deal, Frank had seemed more willing to accept it. That said something about Frank’s life, Gerard realised. Unwilling to accept help unless he knew there was an ulterior motive. As if he didn’t trust anyone not to withdraw it.

“Gerard?” Mikey questioned.

“Oh, sorry,” Gerard said, cheeks colouring, “Just thinking.”

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Mikey teased, and laughed when Gerard flipped him off.

Gerard didn’t understand how most people would think that this was wrong. That he shouldn’t be here, with Mikey, because Mikey was a human and Gerard was a vampire. Weren’t they all humans at one point? Gerard would never understand the reason for the discrimination, he just knew that he didn’t agree with it. And he knew that there was nothing he could do about it.

“I thought that if I could get Frank to trust me, then he wouldn’t tell anyone that, you know. That I come here,” Gerard shrugged awkwardly.

Mikey rolled his eyes, “He said he wouldn’t tell anyone, so he won’t. And besides, if Frank Iero, the vampire hater, can accept my relationship with you, then I’m sure the others will.”

Gerard flinched, and Mikey frowned, “You okay there, Gee?” Gerard nodded quickly, and Mikey narrowed his eyes shrewdly, “Is that the only reason you’ve given Frank a job?”

“Of course,” Gerard said, “What other reason could there be?” Mikey raised an eyebrow, and Gerard tried not to blush.

Mikey didn’t know much about Gerard’s human life. It was something they never talked about. He didn’t know how Gerard was changed, and he certainly didn’t know that before it had happened he’d had to watch his best friend die. He couldn’t explain to Mikey the draw he felt towards Frank, because that would involve delving into areas of Gerard’s life that he didn’t want to discuss. All he knew was that when Mikey talked about how Frank hated all vampires, or when Frank stared at him with obvious contempt in his eyes, something in Gerard’s gut twisted so unpleasantly that he wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

“Okay.” Mikey said, deadpan. Clearly he didn’t believe a word Gerard said, but Gerard was going to ignore that for the time being, “Well, I guess working as a secretary for a comic book artist is a lot better than be housemaid.”

“I, uh, I didn’t actually tell him what I did,” Gerard said, “He clearly didn’t want to talk to me any more than he had to.”

“That might be a problem, you know, seeing as he’s going to be working for you now.”

Gerard sighed, “You think this is a bad idea? Is that what you’re saying?”

Mikey paused, biting his lip, “Actually… I think it’s a really good idea. For both of you. Plus, it’ll keep Bert off your case right?”

Mikey knew all about Bert. “Ugh, don’t even mention his name,” Gerard groaned, “Yeah, I mean, it’ll get him off my case about it. I know he suspects that I’m doing something I shouldn’t be… I guess having a secretary will make me seem like more of a normal vamp.” He scowled at the thought.

“Hey,” Mikey said gently, “You’re not going against your morals by hiring Frank, okay? If anything, you’re going with them, seeing as you’re pretty much saving Frank’s ass by doing this.”

“I guess,” Gerard said, smiling slightly, “I’m just… I’m nervous. About tomorrow. Frank makes me nervous.”

Mikey leaned across the table and put an arm around Gerard. Gerard sighed, and rested his head on Mikey’s shoulder. “It’ll be fine,” Mikey said soothingly, “You’re the vampire, remember? You’re not meant to be intimidated by him.”

“I’m not really a normal vampire, though, am I?” Gerard smiled softly.

“Thank god,” Mikey laughed fervently.

Gerard joined in after a pause, forever glad that that was true.

***

Frank’s knees were shaking so much that they were practically knocking together. He was stood, facing forward, trying not to focus on the sounds of the vampires talking around him. He’d been lucky last time he caught the bus to the city; now, travelling with other humans on their way to work – work, Frank thought, grimacing. He was going to work – it was near on impossible to get a seat. There weren’t that many seats designated to humans to begin with, and there were always a few asshole vampires that would sit in the human area before do something as undignified as stand for a bus journey. And as much as Frank hated this, as much as he wanted to stand up for his race and say something, well, that would be suicidal. It wouldn’t be hard for a vampire to follow him into an alley and finish him off. Illegal? Yes. Happened anyway? Definitely.

Frank was trying very hard not to be scared. He didn’t want to be scared. Plenty of humans worked in the city. He knew, technically, that he wasn’t in any real danger. But, as much as he was trying not to show it, he was fucking terrified. Was it the fact that he was going to be working for Gerard? This wasn’t some anonymous vampire that had grudgingly allowed Frank to work for him; this was his best friend’s… well, relative (Frank wasn’t quite sold on the brother thing), who had actively sought Frank out and offered him a job. And yes. Frank was scared.

He got off the bus at the stop specified on Gerard’s directions, and tried not to hunch his shoulders or stare too intently at the floor. Last time he was in the city it was much less busy – vampires tended to avoid being outside when the sun was high in the sky, the morning and later afternoon periods being much busier than the midday. Thanks to the daylight pills, it wasn’t dangerous for them to be exposed to the sun’s rays, not like in the old novels Frank’s grandfather gave him. But apparently, the midday period was still uncomfortable. Good, Frank thought bitterly. More proof than ever that vampires weren’t meant to be the dominating race. But for now, the streets were full of vampires, and the glares and piercing stares sent him way made Frank’s skin crawl.

Frank stopped in front of a tall, thin building, with _Dark Horse_ in bold lettering over the entrance. Frank gave a start. Gerard worked for _Dark Horse_? He knew that name. His grandfather had passed down hundreds of comics, all of them from his father, who’d been an avid collector before the Uprising. Frank loved the comics, and still bought them when he could from the small, family run business in his neighbourhood. He’d always refused to read anything produced by vampires though, and wasn’t even aware that _Dark Horse_ comics were still around.

A small smile tugged at the corner of Frank’s mouth as he entered the foyer of the building and made his way over to the reception desk. Maybe the fact that Gerard drew for _Dark Horse_ would make it slightly more bearable, working for a vampire. Although, why that would involve needing a secretary, Frank didn’t know.

The girl sat at reception looked up as Frank approached. She was human, and Frank wondered if she was ashamed to be working for a corporation run by vampires too, or whether she was just glad to have a source of income. Frank knew that eventually he too would be grateful. He wasn’t at that point yet though. And, quite honestly, the idea that he might soon feel like he owed Gerard, like Gerard had done him a favour, was nauseating.

“I, uh, I’m the new secretary for… Mr. Way?” Referring to Gerard as “Mr. Way” felt wrong; it was a human address. Frank had barely even gotten over calling Gerard a “he” instead of an “it.”

Some emotion flickered in the girl’s eyes, before she smiled and said, “Frank Iero? He’s expecting you. Go straight up.”

Frank paused, and when she didn’t say anything else, said, “To which floor?”

“The top one.” she answered him as if he were a child, asking a stupid question.

The top one? “I… really?” 

The girl looked like she wanted to roll her eyes, but thought it would be unprofessional, “Mr. Way runs the company. His office takes up the whole top floor.”

“He, he runs… wow.” Gerard was in charge of _Dark Horse_? Really? Frank hated the fact that he felt ever so slightly impressed. And jealous. How much money must Gerard make? Suddenly, Mikey’s bountiful wealth made so much more sense.

“I’ll… I’ll go on up then,” Frank said, nodding at the girl, who didn’t respond. _Jealousy_ , Frank realised. That was what he’d seen in the girl’s eyes earlier, but failed to recognise. She was jealous that he’d managed to bag a spot as secretary to the owner of _Dark Horse_ comics, while she was stuck on the front desk. Frank felt distinctly uncomfortable, and tried to calm himself down as he waited for the elevator. He would not appear nervous in front of Gerard. The elevator doors opened, and Frank took a deep breath, before stepping inside.

*

The top floor was huge. Frank could only stare at the massive, circular desk in the centre of the room, papers strewn all over the surface, at the windows that stretched the length of the floor, looking down on the entire city, at the clean desk set to the side, clearly meant for him. He didn’t actually notice Gerard until he spoke.

“Frank! You – you actually came.”

Frank turned towards the sound and saw Gerard standing in the corner of the room, having obviously been staring out of the window before Frank arrived. He smiled widely, looking almost relieved, and Frank tried not to feel too uncomfortable.

“I said I would.”

Gerard’s smile dimmed a little, “I know you did. But Mikey told me that you don’t like the thought of working for a vampire, so… I guess I thought you might change your mind.”

Frank didn’t say anything; he didn’t really know what to say. He was here to work, not to make pleasant conversation. But Gerard was waiting, looking at him expectantly, so he cleared his throat and said awkwardly, “Mikey didn’t tell me you were a comic book writer.”

Gerard blushed, or well, his skin turned slightly less pale, “I, yeah. I’ve always been into comics, even before… well, I’ve always loved them. I guess I just worked my way up. Been in this spot for thirty years now.”

Frank supposed that wasn’t a particularly long time for someone who didn’t age. He wanted to ask how Gerard had got into the business, ask where his passion for comics came from. To ask what he’d written, and see if Frank had heard of any of it. But he wasn’t here to make pleasant conversation.

“I love comics,” Frank said instead, quietly.

Gerard’s expression softened. He looked like he wanted to say something, to ask Frank more. But he didn’t. The moment stretched on, and eventually Gerard said, “So! I haven’t ever had a secretary before, so before you get any real work done, I’m afraid there’s a hell of a lot of filing to be done. I’ll, um, show you to your desk, and see if the work load scares you off.”

Not likely, Frank thought. He was starting to appreciate that not many humans would be able to find a job like this. And, while still unsure if he even wanted it, throwing it away would be downright stupid. So Frank followed Gerard over to what was his desk, listening to Gerard admit that he was the most disorganised person ever, and that Frank had his work cut out for him, hands gesturing madly as he spoke, and tried to match that image to that of the vampires he’d grown up hating. They didn’t seem to fit at all.

*

Working for Gerard, Frank thought, was not how he’d imagined working for a vampire would be. Whenever he’d pictured it (normally during one of those sleepless nights where all he could think about was bills and revolutions), he’d imagined having to work tirelessly, with a strict boss who would only communicate with him when absolutely necessary. The vampire Quinn worked for had once struck him for forgetting to pass on a message. But Gerard. Gerard was not like that.

“Do you want coffee, Frank? I’m making coffee.”

Frank had blinked, looking up from the mountain of paper that was threatening to engulf him. For a job that doesn’t involve a lot of writing, Gerard sure as hell had a lot of stuff that needed sorting. Frank was glad he was naturally a perfectionist, and felt a need to tidy and organise when he wasn’t paid to do it, or he might have given up.

“Isn’t that my job? To make you coffee?”

It was the first sentence Frank had spoken since he’d started. Gerard had been talking, on and off, about irrelevant and inconsequential things, seeming to like the fact that he had someone to talk at. Frank had listened, and tried not to respond. He wasn’t here to talk to Gerard. He had to keep telling himself that.

Gerard had looked surprised, “But you’re working. And I’m not. Besides, I’ve been making my own coffee for years, I don’t need someone else to make it for me.”

Frank wanted to say no. He had a rule, not to benefit from anything produced by vampires. But… coffee. It had been an age since he’d last had coffee.

“Okay,” he said grudgingly, and then, after a pause, “thank you.”

Gerard had beamed, and left the office, returning quarter of an hour later with two steaming mugs in his hands.

“Do you actually do any work, then?” Frank asked, before he could help himself, “Or do you normally spend your day talking to yourself?”

For a second, Gerard just looked shocked that Frank had actively spoken to him without being addressed first. Frank was pretty shocked himself, if he was honest. Then, he smiled, “I come up with the ideas. I make up the storylines, and then they –” he made a vague gesture which Frank supposed meant, everyone on the floors below me, “draw them out.” His smiled got wider, “I’m working on something at the moment, but it’s still in the ‘in my head’ phase. I might have to start actually working soon though.”

Frank found himself smiling, and quickly drank a gulp of coffee to cover it up. The coffee was too hot, and Frank ended up burning his mouth. Gerard laughed at the expression on Frank’s face, and then moved away, over to his, much larger, desk. He sat down and pulled out a pencil from – somewhere? Behind his ear? Frank didn’t know.

“I’ll let you get on with the filing,” he said, “I’m going to sketch for a while.”

By the afternoon, Frank was feeling bemused. He couldn’t understand how he felt so comfortable in the presence of a vampire. How talking to Gerard was much like talking to Jeph or Quinn at _The Drummer Boy_. For the first time, Frank understood how, after getting over the fact that Gerard was a vampire, Mikey might have come to like him. He could perfectly see why Gerard liked Mikey; that was obvious. But – yeah, Frank supposed that Gerard was… likable. And that was a strange thought. Frank had felt so scared and threatened on the bus this morning, and all of those feelings had entirely disappeared.

That wasn’t to say that Frank didn’t feel threatened at all throughout the day. It just wasn’t by Gerard.

It was around three when the elevator doors opened to reveal a man – vampire, Frank quickly assessed. Definitely a vampire. His hair was longer and stragglier than Gerard’s, and he was also dressed in black. Frank wasn’t sure if he was meant to address the vampire – Gerard hadn’t said what to do if anyone stopped by his office.

Gerard’s head snapped up at the sound of footsteps – he was still drawing – and his face immediately contorted into a scowl. It was the first time Frank had seen that expression on Gerard’s face, and he didn’t like it.

“Is it possible for you to go a day without stopping by to make my life miserable?” Gerard asked, his voice tight.

“Aw, Gee, don’t be so dramatic,” the vampire answered, smirking, “We both know my visits are really the highlight of your day.”

Gerard’s jaw clenched. He glanced at Frank, then quickly looked away, as if he’d been trying not to look at Frank but couldn’t help himself. The vampire followed the movement, and his eyes widened in surprise.

“Bert…” Gerard said, a warning edge to his voice.

Frank blinked, and suddenly, the vampire, or Bert, was in front of him, his face inches from Frank’s. Frank stumbled backwards, disconcerted; he hadn’t even seen Bert move.

“And who do we have here?” Bert said, softly. Frank didn’t like the way Bert spoke one bit. He wasn’t even going to pretend that he wasn’t scared; he was pretty sure Gerard could hear his heart beating, from all the way across the room.

“That’s my secretary, Frank,” Gerard said, obviously aiming for a casual tone, but falling short, “I’ve just hired him today.”

Bert turned to stare at Gerard, “You hired a human?” His tone was disbelieving.

Gerard shrugged, “I was thinking about everything you said the other day, and I just figured you were right. I’ll get tons more done with a secretary here. I thought I may as well hire one.” His tone was casual now, but Frank wasn’t sure if he believed it. And this was news to him, anyway. Frank had thought Gerard had hired him so he’d keep the secret about Mikey, not because of peer pressure from another vampire. A vampire that Frank had quickly decided he did not like.

Bert looked thoughtful. He turned back to face Frank, who tried not to flinch away. Bert wasn’t looking at him in disgust, which was the norm for a vampire. More… appraisal. That didn’t make Frank feel any better.

“Hey, kid,” Bert said softly, almost purring. Frank tried not to cringe.

“I’m not a kid,” he finally said, trying his best to glare at Bert and mostly pulling it off, he thought. That probably wasn’t a smart move, but Frank just wanted Bert away from here, much further away than he presently was.

However, Bert just laughed, “I like him,” he announced to Gerard, who visibly paled, “Keep him around, why don’t you? He could be of some use.” This made no sense to Frank whatsoever, but Gerard said in a tight voice, “Bert. Leave.”

Bert shrugged, turning away from Frank and towards Gerard, “Always the dampener, Gee. Well, I won’t stay where I’m not wanted. I’ll just have to see you tomorrow.”

He was out of the office and into the elevator before Frank could take another breath. 

Frank had barely relaxed before Gerard was in front of him, stood in much the same way as Bert first was. Frank flinched back, surprised at how fast Gerard had moved, and Gerard held up his hands in apology.

“Sorry, I’m – I’m really sorry, Frank. I should have warned you about Bert. He comes by most days.”

“Who is he?” Frank managed, his heart beat and breathing returning to normal.

“And old friend,” Gerard said darkly; his expression juxtaposing his words, “I – me and Bert go way back. And he’s an asshole. Really. Avoid him whenever possible.”

Frank didn’t see how he could avoid Bert when he worked in an office that Bert regularly stopped by. And there was something in Gerard’s face that was making him nervous. Gerard was scared. And Frank had no idea why.

“Are you okay, Gerard?” Frank asked cautiously. Gerard looked surprised again, that Frank had used his name. He made a jerky movement with his arm, as if he wanted to touch Frank’s shoulder, but knew he shouldn’t, and eventually just said, “Don’t mind me. I’m just being silly. I’m sorry. Please, continue.”

With that, he’d walked back over to his desk, and picked up his paper again to carry on sketching. Frank stared at him for a moment longer, then uneasily settled back into work. Everything felt tenser now, less comfortable, the easy silence from before Bert had arrived completely shattered. Frank knew that that wasn’t the last he’d hear of Bert. Not by a long shot.

***

If there was one thing Gerard did not want to do that night, it was go to _The Diner_. Not that he ever went out very often – unlike Bert, Pete, and most of his other acquaintances, who could be found at the city’s largest bar most nights. But tonight especially, socialising was the last thing on his mind.

What was on his mind, was going back to the outskirts, and making sure that Frank made it home safely. Making sure that Bert hadn’t followed him home. Watching his house for the night in case Bert turned up later. Gerard knew he was probably being irrational, but if there was one thing he knew about Bert, it was that the look on his face when he’d seen Frank was never a good thing.

So instead, Gerard was going out.

What he wanted to do, more than anything, was to see Mikey. To tell him about his day, how he thought he was actually making some progress with Frank; that Frank might actually be starting to like him, to see him as a person, rather than a thing to be hated. To tell him about Bert, about what he’d said about Frank, and how scared Gerard was that Bert was going to do something. About how uneasy Frank had become after Bert had gone, how he hadn’t said another word except for when he said goodbye, and about how he hadn’t even looked at Gerard when he said it.

Most of all, he wanted to ask why he cared so much about Frank’s opinion of him. 

But he couldn’t do that either, because Bert could be watching him. And if Bert found out about Mikey, Gerard didn’t know what he’d do. So, _The Diner_ it was. That way, if Bert was watching him, then he wouldn’t see anything of interest. Well, the fact that Gerard was actually going out might interest him, but it wouldn’t give away anything about Mikey. Or Frank. Gerard was starting to group them together in his head. Must protect Mikey and Frank.

That was… strange.

Pete was already in his usual spot when Gerard arrived. He waved easily, and Gerard made his way over to where he was sat with Brendon and Gabe. Pete was the closest thing Gerard had to a friend. Well, they were friends. They hung out, they talked and laughed together; Gerard felt comfortable around him. But Gerard would never tell Pete about Mikey, or about how he stole blood banks so he didn’t have to take a thrall. Pete was still a vampire, and that wasn’t information Gerard was willing to share with anyone of his own species. No one else would understand.

As Gerard slid into the booth, he noted that Pete didn’t have his thrall with him tonight, which was unusual. Pete never went anywhere without his thrall. It was the sort of behaviour that Gerard would usually strongly oppose; taking a human out of their own life just to have an unlimited supply of blood was, in Gerard’s opinion, disgusting. But it was hard to feel that way after watching Pete with his thrall. There was a fondness (on Pete’s side at least) that Gerard had never seen before. 

“Hey Gee Way,” Pete grinned, “What brings you out this fine evening?”

Gerard rolled his eyes, “The thought of your company, of course.”

“I’m not staying long, Paddy-kins is ill,” Pete said, the concern prominent in his eyes. 

“You know that he’s supposed to be your bitch, not the other way around, right?” Gabe smirked. It was clearly a joke, but Gerard still felt his chest tighten. Brendon punched Gabe lightly on the shoulder, “Dude, not nice.” 

Gerard liked Brendon. He was finny and kind and never made fun of Gerard for his human-rights speeches. 

“I was just leaving, actually,” Brendon said, standing up, “Nice seeing you though, Gee. It seems like we hardly ever see you these days.”

Gerard shrugged uneasily, “I guess I’ve been busy lately.”

“Yeah, busy getting laid,” Gabe snickered.

Gerard choked. “Excuse me?”

Pete grinned, “It’s cool, Gee. Bert told us you’ve been spending most nights with your thrall lately.”

That was… not true. At all. But, Gerard thought, if that was what they wanted to think, it kept them off his case about where he’d actually been spending his time. Sometimes, Bert McCracken’s inability to keep anything to himself was a good thing.

Speaking of.

“Is that Bert?” Gerard asked, craning his neck to get a good look at the bar.

“Yeah, he’s just come in.”

“Okay, I need to talk to him about something. I’ll see you guys later,” Gerard said, standing up, “I hope Patrick feels better soon.” He ignored Gabe’s snort.

“He’ll be fine by tomorrow,” Pete said confidently, “I’ll probably be bringing him out. Hey! You should bring yours!”

Gerard winced. They aren’t ours, he wanted to say. We don’t own them. We shouldn’t even be allowed to have power over them. It’s not right.

“Sure, we’ll see,” he said instead. He wouldn’t be going out tomorrow. They couldn’t call him on the bluff.

Gerard suppressed the nervous feeling in his gut as he approached Bert. It wouldn’t do him any favours to appear nervous.

“Hey,” he greeted, grabbing the stool next to Bert and sitting down.

Bert raised an eyebrow, “And to what do I owe this pleasure, Gee Way?” he drawled.

Gerard tried to stop his cheeks from flushing, “I actually wanted to talk about Frank.”

“Mm, Frank.” How Gerard hated the tone of Bert’s voice when he said Frank’s name, “Gotta say, Gerard, I’m glad you hired that one. Wouldn’t mind a piece, if you know what I’m saying.”

“Bert.” Gerard’s voice came out flatter than he’d intended. Bert spoke over him before he could say anything.

“Yeah, okay, I know how you feel about my… lifestyle choice,” Bert rolled his eyes. Gerard narrowed his; lifestyle choice.

“You’re breaking the law, not coming out of the closet,” Gerard snapped.

“Whatever,” Bert dismissed, “Point is, you’ve made your views clear. You don’t seriously think you can persuade me to -”

“I’m not talking about your ‘lifestyle choice’,” Gerard interrupted, resisting the urge to make quote marks with his fingers, “I mean Frank specifically.”

“What about it?”

“You need to stay away from him,” Gerard said, surprised at his own daring, “You can’t feed on him.”

Bert raised an eyebrow, regarding Gerard coolly, who tried to stare back levelly. “And why’s that?”

Gerard didn’t say anything, trying desperately to think of a valid reason, and drawing a blank. Bert couldn’t feed on Frank, he just couldn’t. The very thought of it made Gerard want to throw up.

Bert raised his other eyebrow, waiting for an answer. Gerard blurted out the first thing that came into his head.

“Because he’s my thrall. He’s mine, and I forbid you to go near him.”

As soon as he’d spoken, Gerard wanted to kick himself. He’s mine? Gerard didn’t say thing like that, he didn’t agree with that view. The words had flowed out of his mouth unchecked. But Bert’s expression was one of shock.

“You hired your thrall as a secretary?”

Gerard took the first thought in his head and ran with it, “Yeah. You know how I hate the idea of humans working for me. It seemed much easier to just get my… my thrall to do it.”

That… actually made sense, Gerard realised. Bert contemplated this, and then finally nodded, “That does sound like something you’d do.”

“Exactly,” Gerard said, “So seriously, Bert. Promise me you won’t go near him?”

“It’s seriously your thrall?” Bert still looked sceptical, “The thrall that no one’s ever seen before? That’s Frank?”

“Yes. Frank is my thrall.” The lie was coming easier now.

Bert’s gaze was unreadable, “Fine. If it’s your thrall, I won’t touch it,” he finally said.

Gerard’s body sagged with relief.

“So you’ll be bringing it out tomorrow, then?” Bert said, a smirk playing around the corners of his lips. 

“Uh, what?” Gerard’s smile froze in place.

“Bring it out tomorrow. Pete always has his with him, it’s a pretty normal thing to do.”

“W-why should I?” Gerard said, grasping desperately for strings. There was no way in hell he’d be able to convince Frank to come to a vampire hang out with him. And he couldn’t think of any other reason for Bert to stay away from Frank. His heart thudded painfully in his chest, “I don’t even like going out myself.”

“Oh, I know,” Bert said, his smirk growing bigger, “It’s just… if you seriously want me to stay away from something as nice to look at as Frank, I’m going to need more convincing.”

“You don’t believe me.” Gerard stated. That much was obvious. 

“I didn’t say that,” Bert said, getting to his feet and brushing his hand across Gerard’s cheek. Gerard drew back, “I’ll see you and Frank here tomorrow, then?” He winked. “Can’t wait.”

As soon as he was out of the door, Gerard’s head fell into his hands. Now he was royally screwed. His interference had probably made things worse. Gerard had to prove to Bert that Frank was his thrall, or Bert would be sure to go after him. 

One thing was for sure: he had a lot of explaining to do to Frank tomorrow.

***

“Frank, my man!”

As soon as Frank walked through the doors of _The Drummer Boy_ he was met by shouts and catcalls from his usual corner. He made his way over to where Mikey, Ray and Jepha were sitting.

“You survived!” Ray was the one who had spoken, beaming at Frank, clearly having had one too many drinks.

“I survived,” Frank repeated, his eyes finding Mikey’s. Mikey raised an eyebrow, questioning, and Frank gave a small nod. They’d talk later.

“So, what’s it like, working for a vampire?” Jepha leaned forward, his eyes burning with curiosity. Jepha worked in the corner shop nearest to Frank’s house. The pay was shit, but he refused to go into the city to try and find a better job. The risk of ending up with a boss like Quinn’s was too great, Frank presumed.

“I don’t have much to compare it too, but I don’t think it’ll be too bad,” Frank shrugged. He didn’t think it would be too bad at all, actually. But he certainly wasn’t going to tell everyone about his mixed feelings for Gerard, how he could go from hating him one minute to almost liking him the next. That would involve, well, explaining Gerard. 

“Seriously, what’s the vampire like?” Ray pressed, “Did it talk to you at all? Did it make you work really hard or what?”

“Uh, I dunno.” Frank honestly had no idea how to tell them about the way Gerard had acted. Somehow, he didn’t think ‘he was actually really nice, he made me coffee and talked all day, and now I’m questioning my ideals’ would cut it, “He’s… different.”

Ray looked surprised at the pronoun use. Frank shrugged… he just wasn’t comfortable calling Gerard an ‘it’ anymore.

“What do you mean?”

Frank looked at Mikey. Frank didn’t even know how to start explaining Gerard, and Mikey had known him way longer than Frank. But Mikey just stared at him blankly, and… oh. Right. The others didn’t know that Mikey knew Gerard, of course they didn’t.

“He’s the owner of _Dark Horse_ comics,” Frank said instead, “I’m working on the top floor of this huge building. I mean, it sucks that he’s a vampire and all, but the job is actually pretty cool.” 

“The owner? Dude, he must be rolling in it!” Jepha looked a mixture between impressed and disgusted. Frank glanced at Mikey again, whose small smile definitely had a proud tilt to it. Of course Mikey would be proud of his vampire brother for having a successful career. Frank suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

Ray continued to question him, and Frank found himself having to skim over his answers. He didn’t realise it would be this hard, to not tell the truth. He wasn’t even sure what it was he didn’t want the others to know. He just found himself praying for a subject change.

“Well, I’m off,” Jepha eventually said, “If Quinn comes in, tell him I’ve left. He was meant to meet me here like an hour ago.”

“Okay,” Frank said easily, his body sagging with relief. Ray moved over to talk to Bob soon after, and Frank rested his head on Mikey’s shoulder wearily.

“It’s really okay?” Mikey asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

“It’s so weird, Mikes,” Frank said into Mikey’s shoulder, “I feel like I should hate him. He’s a vampire, and I hate vampires, so I should hate him.”

“He’s just a hard person to hate,” Mikey said, a smile in his voice, “I thought the same thing at first. But he’s so… he’s _Gerard._ ”

“Exactly,” Frank said.

“I’m sure you’ll figure things out soon,” The smile was more prominent now.

Frank lifted his head, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mikey raised an eyebrow, and stayed silent. Frank rolled his eyes. Sometimes, he had no idea what Mikey was talking about.

It was only later, when Frank was in bed, that he realised that he’d completely forgotten to tell Mikey about Bert; the unsettled feeling in his stomach completely vanishing in the presence of his best friend. He’d tell Mikey tomorrow.

***

Gerard was in his office half an hour before Frank was due to arrive. It was a particularly sunny day; the bright light streaming through the office windows juxtaposing the coiled, tight feeling in Gerard’s gut. He didn’t even know how he was going to explain the mess he’d put himself in to Frank. Frank was going to hate him even more once he knew what Gerard had said. He swallowed heavily, trying to suppress the feeling like he was going to puke. 

The elevator opened to reveal Frank, his hands twisting together in front of him, at about five minutes before nine. His mouth twisted when he saw Gerard into something that resembled a smile, not quite there, but an improvement on yesterday. Gerard was just relieved Frank had come back. After Bert’s appearance yesterday, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Frank had been scared off.

“More filing?” Frank asked, gesturing to the mess left on his desk from the previous day.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you before we get started on anything,” Gerard said, after a deep breath. Frank was talking to him, willingly. He was actually making progress. And now he was about to ruin that, all because he seemed unable of thinking before speaking. 

Frank hesitated; the prospect of “talking” with a vampire obviously unpleasant. Gerard tried not to wince. “What about?”

“Here, sit down.” Gerard drew out one of the chairs around the table in the centre of the room. Frank looked distinctly uncomfortable now, but he sat down and looked at Gerard. His gaze seemed suspicious, withdrawn. Gerard sighed; not a good start.

“Well, um,” he started, then changed his mind, “Do you want any coffee?”

“Gerard,” Frank said, a twist in his voice that could almost be amusement. Gerard’s stomach contracted when Frank said his name, as it had yesterday. He brushed that aside and waited for Frank to continue, “Stop stalling. Is there something the matter? Is… is this not working out?”

It took Gerard a moment to gather Frank’s meaning, “Oh! No! No, I’m not firing you. No, I – no, Frank.” Great, now he was rambling. He rubbed at his eye wearily and sat down opposite Frank.

“I haven’t been completely honest with you,” he started, “There are some thing you don’t know about my… lifestyle, and well. There are some things I need to tell you.”

Frank’s expression was definitely nervous now, apprehensive. Gerard was probably scaring him, which he didn’t want at all. He wished he didn’t have to do this. Frank clearly disliked him enough as it was.

“What do you mean by ‘lifestyle’?” Frank asked carefully.

“I don’t have a thrall.” Gerard blurted out, his mouth once again seeming to run on a different thread than his brain. He had not been planning on just coming out with it like that.

Frank blinked at him, his expression blank, “Pardon?”

“Sorry, I.” Gerard ran a hand through his hair, “I’m just trying to explain that I, I’m with you. I’ve never agreed with how our species looks down on yours. I don’t agree with enthrallment, or humans having to serve vampires in any way. This idea of mankind being the inferior species is ridiculous. We were all human once. Sorry, I…” He bit his lip, aware that he digressing, “I’ve never had a secretary before because I don’t agree with it, with having to hire a human because they aren’t “qualified” for any more tasking jobs. Since the law was passed I haven’t fed on a human. I’ve been stealing blood bags from hospitals. I can’t… I would never want to control anyone’s mind like that. It isn’t right.”

Frank was quiet when he finished speaking, staring intently at Gerard as if trying to figure him out.

“Mikey could have told you all of that,” Gerard added, “But he’s the only one that knows. It’s – frowned upon, not taking thralls.”

“Hang on,” Frank said slowly, “Okay, you don’t agree with enthrallment. But you’ve only stopped feeding on humans since the law was passed? What, it was okay to do it before, when you were free to take as many thralls as you liked? I – that doesn’t make sense.” Frank was frowning, as if he were trying hard not to get angry. Gerard didn’t want Frank to be angry with him.

Gerard snorted, “Yeah, that law’s sure made things better.”

“What’s with the sarcasm?” Frank’s voice was bemused, “There are way less thralls now than before the law was passed!”

“And who told you that?” Gerard asked, “The Council? The _vampire_ Council?”

Silence. “What does that mean?”

Gerard sighed. “Do you know what causes enthrallment, Frank?”

“Prolonged feeding between the same vampire and human,” Frank answered immediately.

“Exactly,” Gerard answered. He hadn’t wanted to get into this, but there was no way of telling Frank about Bert without explaining this first, “Prolonged, Frank. Before the law was passed, it was unusual for a vampire to even feed on the same human twice. It happened, sure, that’s how we know about enthrallment… but it wasn’t the norm. Every human’s blood tastes slightly different. Why stick to one, was the normal view. It’s only now, after the law, that vampires have had to stick to one.”

“I…” Frank was frowning, the confusion evident on his face, “What are you saying?”

“That law wasn’t passed for your safety,” Gerard said grimly, “The more vampires created, the more humans will succumb to enthrallment, and… well, eventually, there won’t be any humans left. Or, there will be, but they –”

“Won’t be proper humans,” Frank finished angrily, “You aren’t a human once your free choice is taken from you. That’s – that’s disgusting!” He looked outraged, his hands clenched into fists, and Gerard was taken swiftly back to the Frank he used to know, Frank’s ancestor. That was an expression he’d seen before.

“I know,” Gerard agreed, “That’s why I stopped feeding on humans.”

“But – we have to do something! We can’t just…” he trailed off.

Gerard shook his head, “Even if you told everyone you knew, nothing would change, except now you understand. You can’t change anything.”

“That’s such a defeatist attitude!” Frank cut over him angrily.

“Well, what would you propose you do?” Gerard snapped, immediately feeling bad afterwards. Frank had the right to be angry over this. Of course he would be mad at Gerard; Gerard was the enemy here.

“Sorry,” Frank said quietly, to Gerard’s surprise, “I shouldn’t be getting mad at you, you aren’t the bad guy here. In fact,” Frank seemed to consider Gerard, who felt himself flushing under Frank’s gaze, “That’s… that’s pretty admirable. You’re living off blood bags to stand up for what you believe in. That’s… you’re… a good person, Gerard.”

Gerard felt hot all over. Frank thought he was a good person? Not even a good vampire – a person. His fingers and toes felt all tingly, and he felt a smile creep untold across his face, “No more admirable than refusing to work for one of us because of what you believe in. Mikey told me about that, before I met you. I remember thinking you must be so brave.”

“That’s not the same thing,” Frank said dismissively, “I’m the minority here.”

“Just because there are more of us, doesn’t make you the minority,” Gerard frowned. That was ridiculous.

Frank face went blank with surprise for a moment, to Gerard’s confusion. Then, he smiled. A genuine smile, practically a beam, directed at Gerard, “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

Gerard knew that his face was bright red by now. His stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. He should have known this would happen. He’d suspected it, of course, but there was no denying where this was going now.

“So… so that’s me,” Gerard said, trying to pick back up his train of thought, “And now I need to talk about Bert.”

Frank’s smile immediately vanished.

“Bert is…” Gerard didn’t know how to word it, “Everything that I am, Bert is not.”

Frank frowned. “What do you mean?” he said. Gerard could see his brain ticking over. The seconds passed. Finally, his eyes widened, “Bert has more than one thrall?”

Gerard was actually surprised at how quickly Frank had come to that conclusion, “I – I don’t know if that’s true,” Gerard said, “Like I said before: prolonged feeding. I’m not sure at what point “prolonged” occurs. But, he definitely isn’t sticking to the law. And he, um. He liked you.”

Frank paled, understanding the inference. His eyes were sharp with fear. Gerard wanted to wipe it off his face. Frank should never be scared. “So, what? He’s going to feed on me?”

“No.” Gerard was shocked at how sharp his voice sounded.

“But you just said…” Frank trailed off.

“That was what I wanted to talk to you about,” Gerard said, taking a breath. “I told Bert that you were my thrall last night, so he’d stay away from you.”

Gerard waited for the disgust, the horror. For Frank to get up and leave. Instead, Frank merely frowned, “You… you what? Why did you do that?”

Gerard nearly tripped over his words in his haste to speak, “It’s, uh, no vampire would ever touch another’s thrall. Not even Bert. I was too scared that he’d go after you… or that he’d follow you and find Mikey. I’m really sorry, really really sorry, but I couldn’t think of anything else that would make him stay away from you, and – ”

“Gerard,” Frank interrupted. Gerard’s mouth snapped shut, and he stared at Frank nervously. “I don’t understand why you’re apologising. I – I should be thanking you. All you’ve done is essentially keep me safe from possible enthrallment. I – I can’t understand why you’d think I’d be mad?”

Gerard took another breath, “You, uh. You have to come out with me tonight. To meet my friends. And Bert.”

Now Frank looked horrified. He drew away from Gerard slightly, and Gerard tried not to flinch. “Why?”

“I don’t think Bert believed me,” Gerard blurted out, “He wanted me to bring you, and I couldn’t really argue with it – Pete always brings his thrall out with him, a few vampires do. I couldn’t think of a proper reason to refuse. I’m sorry.” Gerard stared at the table intently, unable to look at Frank. Now Frank was acting how Gerard had expected him to. And why wouldn’t he?

Frank didn’t say anything, and Gerard closed his eyes. Eventually, though, he felt a hand touch his shoulder gently. He looked up, and Frank was biting his lip, staring at him. He drew his hand away immediately, but Gerard could feel his touch linger through his shirt, burning into his skin.

“Okay.” Frank said. He looked terrified, but he was nodding, and he wasn’t staring at Gerard in disgust, and he wasn’t walking away.

“What?” Gerard said.

“Okay, I’ll come with you tonight, and I’ll be your thrall. Hypothetical thrall,” Frank corrected quickly. He looked determined. “It’s only for the one night, right? I mean, after they’ve all seen me, they’ll believe you, and I won’t have to go out again. That’s unusual for thralls, right? So. So, I’ll be a convincing thrall, and then Bert will stay away from me, and my friends. Right?”

“Right,” Gerard agreed. He felt in a daze. Never had he thought Frank would actually agree with him, So, you’ll come? You don’t hate me?”

Frank laughed; a short, surprised bark, “As much as it surprises me to say: I don’t hate you.”

Gerard tried not to feel too happy at that. Not hating someone didn’t equate to liking them.

“We won’t have to stay out for long,” Gerard was sure of this, after all, he wasn’t known for his sociability, “I’ll pick you up tonight, we’ll make sure Bert sees you acting like a thrall should, and then we can leave And that should do it.”

“You don’t have to pick me up, I’ll get the bus,” Frank said immediately. The bus. Because humans couldn’t afford things like cars. Gerard winced.

“I’m not letting you catch the bus into the city at night alone,” Gerard was firm, sure about this, “I’ll come to your house at around nine. I should have you back by midnight, Cinderella.”

He was pleased at the smile Frank cracked at that. This was getting easier, making Frank smile. It was such a nice smile. Gerard could get lost in it. He became aware after a while that he was simply sat there, staring at Frank.

“Um, I guess you can start to work now,” he said, feeling uncomfortable, for some reason, “There’s more filing to be done, and then I have some emails that need answering.”

“Oh.” Frank seemed like he’d forgotten that he was meant to working too, like Gerard had, “Yeah, sure, of course.” He got up and made his way over to his desk.

“I’ll make us coffee,” Gerard said, also getting to his feet.

Frank rolled his eyes, “Sure thing, Gee.”

Gerard tried to get his heart to return to a normal pace as he left the room, he really did, but… Gee. Frank had called him Gee. There was no point in denying it, every time Frank smiled or laughed it was confirmed: he was falling. Hard and fast.

***  
***

The main feeling in Frank’s stomach was apprehension, that evening, waiting for Gerard to pick him up. He could very easily have passed the time until nine at Bob’s, but he wasn’t up for socialising. Anyone would be able to tell that other things were on Frank’s mind. Like, for example, the fact that he was about to spend his evening pretending to be a thrall.

“Are you sure Gee knows what he’s doing?” Mikey had said, when Frank had stopped by his house on his way back from work. Frank had wanted someone to know where he was going, just in case something did happen to him. He was pretty sure it wouldn’t, but these were vampires he was dealing with. Anything could happen. And Mikey would have wanted to know anyway.

“No,” Frank had answered. He wasn’t sure, at all. Gerard had seemed just as nervous at the thought of tonight as Frank had, which did nothing to reassure him.

“You’ll just have to trust him then.” Mikey had replied, with a raised eyebrow that Frank had given up trying to decipher. 

That had made Frank think. Trust? He couldn’t trust Gerard. No matter how kind he was to Frank, no matter how every minute Frank spent with him made him realise how different he was to anyone else Frank knew, human or vampire… Frank still couldn’t trust him. Gerard was still a vampire, and Frank was still a human, and nothing was going to change that fact. 

It was raining. Frank was sitting in the front room of his house, watching the water running down his window, waiting for any sign of headlights outside. Gerard had looked so broken, earlier, when he’d told Frank about Bert. Avoiding eye contact, shoulders hunched, he’d looked like he expected Frank to walk out of his office in disgust. Frank had been overcome with the strangest urge to hug him, to wrap his arms around him and hold him close. 

Frank hadn’t done it. He couldn’t. But the thought had still been there, for the briefest of moments.

A sudden light in his window startled him, and looking up, he saw a silver car pulling into his driveway. Why Frank even had a driveway, he didn’t know. No one he knew owned a car. Well, no one except Gerard.

Frank made himself sit still for a moment longer, breathing steadily and trying to calm his racing heart. You can do this, he told himself, for your safety, and the safety of your friends, you can do this. When he got to his feet, he knees only shook slightly. He quickly locked the door behind him, and ran through the rain to the passenger side. It was coming down in buckets now. All Frank could make out of the car through the rain was that it was nice.

“Drive.” Frank said, as soon as his belt was on.

“What?” Gerard was wearing black – no surprises there – and had a pair of sunglasses on top of his head. In the dark. Frank almost rolled his eyes; vampires.

“Drive, before someone sees the fucking flashy car in my driveway and wonders why it’s there,” Frank clarified.

Gerard’s face coloured slightly, but he pulled off without a word. Frank supposed he was feeling guilty again. Which was all well and good, but it wasn’t as if Gerard could do anything about it. 

“What sort of car is this anyway?” Frank asked, after a minute of strained silence. Gerard’s knuckles were gripping the steering wheel pretty damn tight, and his eyes were focused on the road ahead.

“Jaguar XF,” Gerard muttered, “It isn’t that flashy.”

Frank just nodded. He had no idea what to say. He’d never been the best at small talk, even with someone of his own species. And this wasn’t at work, where, if the silence became too thick, one of them could bring up filing, or emails that needed to be answered. This was out. The sort of thing Frank did with his friends. Was Gerard a friend? Frank didn’t know what the hell he’d consider Gerard, or what Gerard considered him. Although, the fact that he had to think about it was enough to boggle Frank’s mind. The answer should surely be a hard, fast, no. But that wasn’t the case with Gerard, at all.

“Uh,” Gerard broke the silence, “I guess we need to discuss the thrall thing.”

“Oh, yeah,” Frank had almost forgotten that was the aim of the evening, “Do I need to act any different than normal?”

“Well, ranting about the unjustness of enthrallment would be inadvisable, for a start,” Gerard said, a smile in his voice. Frank squinted at him through the darkness in the car. He was smirking.

“Are you making fun of me?” Gerard chuckled, and stayed silent. “You are!” Huh. Frank supposed that should have been weird, but he was overcome with the urge to laugh. He’d never heard Gerard joke before.

“No, seriously,” Gerard said, still chuckling slightly. It was a strangely pleasant sound, “I think the main thing is just to do as I say whenever I tell you to do anything, which I can’t think would be too often. I guess I might ask you to get me a drink?” Frank shuddered at the thought of having to approach a vampire at the bar. “Or, not,” Gerard added hastily, “Just I don’t know, keep quiet. I know, I know, that’ll be hard for you -”

“Fuck you,” Frank said, a laugh startled out of him, “You’re the one that never stops talking.”

Gerard flipped Frank off, who laughed again, and Gerard joined in, a loud, honking sound that made Frank laugh even more. And then he remembered where he was going, who he was with, and stopped laughing abruptly. After a few seconds, Gerard’s laughter faded too, and he sighed. It sounded sad.

The silence stayed thick and strained until Gerard slowed down, parking at the side of the road. Frank made a move to open the door, but Gerard said, “Wait, not yet.” Frank turned to look at him and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Gerard looked uncomfortable, but determined. He fumbled in his coat pocket, pulling something out and handing it to Frank.

“I want you to wear this.”

Frank stared down at the thing in his hand. It was a locket, small and silver, attached to a chain obviously meant to be worn around his neck. He peered at it closely, but couldn’t see any particular markings or words. It was just a locket.

“Um, why?”

“It has my blood in it,” Gerard answered.

Frank eyes snapped up to meet Gerard’s in alarm. He resisted the urge to drop it, to fling it out of the window and into the rain. “It, it what? I, um… what?”

“Don’t freak out! It’s nothing… weird,” Gerard took a breath. Frank was starting to associate this with things he wouldn’t like to hear. “If you keep some of my blood on your person, then, if the situation ever arose where I was to… drink, from you. You… nothing would happen. You couldn’t become enthralled.”

Frank’s mouth fell open. What? Why had he never heard of that before?

“I mean, obviously, I’m not going to… I very much hope you’ll never need it. But, as a precaution, you should wear it.”

“So, wait,” Frank said, trying to wrap his head around all the information he’d received that day, “So, theoretically, you could… drink from me every day, and nothing would happen?”

“I’m not saying I’m going to!” Gerard seemed to be misinterpreting Frank’s calmness as fear – or maybe he just always assumed Frank was going to react in the worst way possible? Frank remembered his behaviour in his office, and thought this the more likely, “I would never do that, Frank, I was planning on giving you this earlier today, but got side-tracked. I just think if we’re going to be spending most days together, then as a precaution –”

“My god, Gerard, stop freaking out!” Frank actually rolled his eyes this time, and suppressed the urge to snicker at the way Gerard’s mouth snapped shut immediately, eyes wide, “I never thought that was what you were implying. I was just trying to say – why doesn’t everyone wear these? This could completely solve the thrall problem!”

Gerard was shaking his head, “It’ll only stop you from becoming thrall to me. My blood. If you wanted to be protected from all vampires, you’d have to somehow collect blood from all of them.” Frank shuddered. “And well. Not many vampires want to prevent enthrallment from happening. Why would they?”

Why would they indeed. Frank sighed. He attached the chain around his neck and slipped it under his shirt.

“What if someone sees it?”

“I don’t think any of my friends would question it. It’s not unusual for a thrall to wear some sort of ownership mark.”

Frank rolled his eyes, “I meant my friends, Gerard.”

“Oh. Well, have you ever seen Mikey’s?”

Frank must have looked surprised, because Gerard smiled slightly, “Like I said, it’s a precaution.”

Frank nodded, “I get it. Um, thank you.”

Gerard just shook his head. “Shall we get this over with, then?”

All the feelings of unease, and fear, and nervousness, that had managed to disappear throughout the course of the journey there, came flooding back at once. Frank felt dizzy because of it.

“Yeah, let’s get this over with.”

*

Frank tried to refrain from hyperventilation as he walked through the entrance to _The Diner_ and was met with bright lights and loud music. A bar was situated in the centre of the room, with booths and tables scattered around it. The walls were dark, and the ceiling low, and Frank felt trapped, like he was being sucked in and there was no way out.

He felt a pressure on his wrist, and looked down to see Gerard gripping it gently, “I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he said, his voice low, intense. His eyes were apologetic. Frank took a deep breath, and nodded, believing him. Gerard let go of his wrist quickly, and scanned the room, before seemingly finding the people he was looking for, and striding towards them without another glance at Frank.

Oh, right. Thrall. Frank was just meant to follow, wasn’t he? He stuck close behind Gerard, resisting the urge to clutch the back of Gerard’s coat like a child would. As if that would protect him from the stares he could feel directed his way. He knew if he was to meet anyone’s gaze it would be accusing. Human, they would be projecting. You don’t belong here.

The booth Gerard was aiming for contained four vampires, and - yes. There was Bert, whiskey in hand, a smirk on his grubby face. He hadn’t noticed Gerard or Frank yet, directing his gaze at one of the others, a ridiculously tall vampire with dark hair. In fact, all of the vampires sat at the table were dark haired. It was as if they’d all taken lessons in how to be a cliché vampire 101.

“Gee, you came!” One of the other vampires noticed them first, a shorter one, who seemed to be bouncing in his seat with excitement. He noticed Frank trying to hide behind Gerard and his grin got wider, “You brought your thrall? Dude, Pete is going to flip his shit when he gets here!”

Frank bristled, but stayed quiet. That was all he was to these vampires. The object of someone else. He felt Gerard’s hand brush his wrist again and knew that he was making sure he stayed calm. 

“Everyone, this is Frank,” Gerard said. Frank thought he sounded nervous, but that might just be because he knew he was, inside, “Pete wanted me to bring him out tonight, so…”

He slid into the booth, opposite Bert, and gestured for Frank to sit next to him. Frank sat silently, trying not to cling to Gerard’s arm. Gerard hadn’t introduced anyone to Frank, but Frank supposed he wouldn’t, not if he viewed Frank as nothing more than an object. Gerard could play his part well. Frank tried not to break into a sweat.

Bert leaned forward, “You actually brought it out?” He looked surprised. Frank remembered Gerard saying that Bert hadn’t believed that Frank actually was Gerard’s thrall. Frank tried to keep his gaze steady as he looked at Bert.

Bert smirked, and tipped and imaginary cap towards Frank, “Bert, although I’m sure you remember me. I’m pretty memorable.” He winked. Frank tried to repress a shudder.

“I’m Brendon, and that’s Spencer,” the short, bouncy guy said, actually smiling at Frank, “Don’t be scared of us. We’re used to Pete bringing his thrall out with him, so one more doesn’t bother us.”

The only vampire not to introduce himself was staring at Frank intently. He finally looked up at Gerard, “Well, Gee Way, I can see why you’ve hardly been out lately, with a face like his.”

Frank looked to Gerard in confusion, and thought that he might be blushing. He looked embarrassed, at least.

Bert laughed, and it wasn’t a nice sound, “I’m jealous too, Gabe. Perhaps Gerard would think of sharing? If not his blood, then perhaps… the rest of him.”

Frank felt his stomach turn as he realised what they were talking about. He looked at Gerard again, but Gerard was avoiding his gaze, instead staring at Bert, and the other vampire, apparently called Gabe.

“I’m afraid you’re out of luck, he’s all for me.” There was no hiding the innuendo in Gerard’s voice, or the smirk. Frank felt faintly sick. He couldn’t believe they were actually talking about this, in front of him. Then, he felt Gerard’s hand grasp his fingers, and squeeze them gently. He knew it was an apology. It wasn’t Gerard, he supposed. Gerard hadn’t said anything, he was simply agreeing. It would probably look strange if Gerard had denied it.

Frank was tempted to pull away, but he knew how guilty that would make Gerard feel. And if he was honest, he didn’t want to hurt his feelings. So he squeezed back, reassuring. I’m not mad. Gerard’s hand stayed where it was for a moment longer, before he withdrew it.

“Well then, the least it can do is get me another drink,” Bert said, the ever present smirk still on his face, nodding at his empty glass, “I’m all out.”

Frank looked to Gerard, who hesitated then nodded, “Frank.”

Frank took a deep breath, then got to his feet, shoving his shaking hands into his pockets. “Do you want anything?” he asked Gerard quietly. He wasn’t sure if he was meant to tack ‘sir’ on the end of the sentence, or if that would be overkill.

Gerard shook his head, “If you want anything though, you can have it,” he answered, handing Frank the money.

As Frank walked away, he could hear Gabe snorting. “You’re as bad as Pete. Buying it a drink? What’s the world coming to?”

Frank’s hands clenched into fists in his pockets.

As the night wore on, Frank thought he was acting his part convincingly enough. He hardly spoke a word, unless addressed directly. Bert and Gabe had more snide remarks to make, and Frank stayed calm through them all, head bowed, the picture of submission. Gerard too, gave no sign of distress at anything said, aside from the occasional grip on Frank’s hand, or knee, invisible to the rest of the table. Frank was glad he did it though. It was comforting, reassuring.

Frank was hoping that Gerard would be able to make an escape soon, and drive him home, when Brendon perked up, saying, “Pete’s here, guys! I thought he wasn’t going to turn up.”

Frank turned to follow Brendon’s gaze, and saw another vampire making his way towards the table. And in his tow – 

Frank’s stomach dropped.

Patrick.

Yes, that was definitely Patrick. Walking behind the vampire, just as Frank had, except that Frank’s part had been an act, a ploy. This was Patrick’s life. Everyone had suspected it, but seeing the truth displayed in front of him was a completely different feeling. Frank could feel bile rising in his throat, and he wanted to leapt to his feet, to grab Patrick and run, see how far he could get before the vampire that considered itself Patrick’s master caught up with them.

Frank felt a grip on his thigh, and looked at Gerard to see him staring at Frank in shock. He’d obviously realised that Frank had recognised his friend’s thrall. Frank’s eyes narrowed. Oh, yes, it was fine for Gerard to have his high and mighty beliefs, but they obviously didn’t stretch far enough to preach to a so called friend the “unjustness of enthrallment.” Frank gritted his teeth, and pulled his leg out of Gerard’s grip.

Gerard’s eyes widened in what looked like fear.

“We have to go.” He spoke quickly and abruptly. He stood up, pulling Frank to his feet too, and make his way towards the exit.

“Come, Frank.”

Frank hesitated. He looked back to Patrick, stopped halfway across the bar, waiting patiently while the vampire, Pete, conversed with someone. As Frank watched, Patrick looked up, and met Frank’s gaze, his eyes widening almost comically. So Patrick still knew him then, the enthrallment hadn’t changed that. 

“Come, Frank.” Gerard’s voice was sharp, and for the first time, Frank felt like he truly was giving an order. If he disobeyed, it would be obvious the whole evening had been an act. Frank didn’t know how Bert would react to that.

Frank sighed, and with one last glance at Patrick, who was staring back with the strangest mix of emotions on his face, he followed Gerard towards the door and out of The Diner.

This was so not over.

***

Of all Gerard’s luck.

He’d been starting to think that the evening was going to be a success. No one suspected anything – why would they? – and Frank didn’t seem like he was taking too much offence to Gabe and Bert’s callous jokes and innuendos. But of course. Of course Frank would know Pete’s thrall. That much was obvious from the expression on his face. Patrick must have been a friend of Frank’s before Pete had enthralled him.

And now Frank was angry.

Gerard left the bar and turned left, into an empty alley that ran the side of it. It was still raining, and Gerard had no umbrella, but Frank couldn’t have stayed in the bar. He would never have been able to stay quiet. He turned around slowly, to face Frank, who was stood with his hands clenched into fists at his sides. His expression was frosty, jaw tight, and Gerard could feel his stomach dropping, feel the tight awful feeling of someone being mad at you rising in his throat. 

“Frank, I – ” he started, but Frank cut over him.

“Fuck you.” His voice was cold, and Gerard flinched. “Do you realise that’s one of my good friends in there? That none of us have heard any news about him in three fucking months? That his best friends still haven’t accepted that that has actually happened to him, are still looking for him? And you’ve known – you’ve known that that vampire in there that you call your friend, has taken him away from his life, from his friends. And you haven’t done anything about it?”

“Frank, I had no idea that you knew –”

“Of course you didn’t, how could you?” Frank was on a roll now, and it was all Gerard could do to stay quiet and listen, and hope that this wasn’t going to be irreparable. The rain was trickling down his cheeks, like tear tracks. “That isn’t the point, okay? How could you preach to me this morning that you’ve never agreed with thralls, that you hate the idea of them and would never take one, yet call yourself friends with someone who isn’t just using a human for feeding, they’ve taken them completely out of their own life? You fucking hypocrite.”

Gerard tried not to be too offended, tried to ignore the words flung at him like stones, but… but that wasn’t true.

“Frank, please calm down,” Gerard begged, stepping towards Frank, who immediately drew back. Gerard bit his lip and stepped forward again, his hands raised.

“Don’t touch me!” Frank snapped, “You can’t – you can’t defend that, Gerard.”

“Frank!” Gerard almost yelled, and Frank stopped talking, staring at him with eyes full of reproach and contempt. He hadn’t looked at him like that since they’d first met, and Gerard could feel his heart pulling, tugging inside his chest. He pushed his stringy hair off his face; the rain was making it stick, and took a deep breath.

“Everything you’ve described is true,” Gerard said gently, stepping closer to Frank, and feeling relieved when he didn’t move. “I can’t excuse Pete’s behaviour. But trust me, okay? Patrick isn’t unhappy. No, listen.” He said, when Frank snorted and looked away. “If there’s one thing I know about Pete, it’s how much he cares for Patrick. And I know Patrick is still a thrall, and I know that’s wrong, but do you really think I wouldn’t have said something if I thought Patrick was being mistreated? If Pete really did just lock him away when he wasn’t needed? That’s not how it is, okay Frank? I’m not sure about Patrick’s side, how much of it is mutual, but I can speak for Pete. He cares about Patrick very dearly.”

“It can’t be mutual.” Frank’s voice was low, and that was Gerard’s heart breaking, right there. Of course it can’t. Because no human in their right mind would even like a vampire, let alone feel anything else for them. Gerard closed his eyes.

“Gerard?”

Opening his eyes, Gerard saw that Frank was staring at him, his expression strangely childlike. His jaw was tight, but his eyes were wide, and almost… wet, sparkly. Gerard realised how upset Frank was over this. He was being selfish, hurting over something that could never happen anyway, when Frank was right in front of him, hurting over something Gerard could help him with.

“You can talk to Patrick,” Gerard said, gently, “I’ll find Pete tomorrow, and explain that you know him. They can come round mine, and so can you, and you can talk to Patrick then, okay? I can’t do anything else, but take Pete away so you can have privacy. I’m so sorry Frank. I really am.”

Frank nodded, “I – yeah, do that. I’ll talk to him. Yeah.” He was still nodding, and Gerard noticed he was shaking a little. If he didn’t know better, he’d say Frank was trying desperately hard not to cry.

Without thinking, Gerard stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Frank, pushing Frank’s head to his chest and enveloping him with his body. As soon as he did it, he cursed himself; the last thing Frank would want now was a hug from him, a vampire. Frank however, stood stiff for a few seconds, then melted, collapsing into the hug, burying his face deeper into Gerard’s chest and leaning into him fully.

Gerard’s heart felt full. He stroked a hand through Frank’s hair, and whispered, “You can talk to him tomorrow, okay? I’ll take you home now. You can talk tomorrow,” and Frank nodded, and brought his arms up to circle Gerard’s waist, holding onto him tightly.

“It’s not fair.” Frank’s voice was tiny, barely audible, and Gerard had never seen him like this, so vulnerable, all his defences and barriers down. He didn’t think Frank was actually crying, but in that moment, he was completely open, with his arms around Gerard’s waist and his face against his chest. He also didn’t think that Frank was only referring to Patrick.

“I know.” Gerard replied, just as quietly, and held Frank tighter in the dark, the rain still falling hard and fast, soaking them both. He was wet, and cold, and tired, and he didn’t care at all; his whole being focused on the human in his arms.

***

Frank didn’t go into work the next day. He just couldn’t.

Thoughts of Patrick, of enthrallment, of the Council, of Bert, of Gerard, all circling his brain, Frank stayed with his head firmly under the covers. Gerard could fire him for skipping a day; he wouldn’t though. Gerard was… understanding. Frank had had a lot of shit dumped on him the previous day, and he needed some time to digest it all.

How could he face any of his friends, the guys at The Drummer Boy, knowing what he knew about Patrick? He wouldn’t be going back there until he’d spoken with him. If he could speak with him. Could thralls have normal conversations? Or did they only speak when directly addressed, the perfect picture of submission? And besides, Frank doubted Gerard would actually arrange for him to talk to Patrick. He’d probably just said that so Frank would stop yelling at him.

And then, there was Gerard himself. Frank did not want to see Gerard so soon after their disagreement last night. He hadn’t let his guard down like that in a while, and he was… embarrassed, that Gerard had seen him like that. Plus, there was the hug. Not that there was anything wrong with two guys hugging, but… Frank didn’t know. It had somehow felt like more than just two guys hugging.

Frank did not know what to do with that information at all.

When Frank settled back off to sleep, he dreamt. Dreamt of Andy and Joe catching him at The Diner with Gerard. They somehow knew about Patrick and they were screaming, “Traitor!” at him, over and over. Ray and Bob were standing in the background, shaking their heads at him, eyes flooded with disappointment. Mikey was nowhere in sight. He turned back to Gerard, only to find that he’d vanished, replaced by Bert. Bert leaned forward, cupping Frank’s face, and Gerard’s voice floated in the background, whispering “He liked you, Frankie.”

Frank woke in a sweat, and didn’t sleep again.

Dusk was beginning to fall when the doorbell rang. It was no surprise to open the door and find Gerard standing on his doorstep, not like it was last time. Perhaps Frank had sensed that Gerard would pay him a visit. Or maybe he just figured that no one else would ring his doorbell.

“Um, hi Frank,” Gerard tousled his hair with one hand awkwardly. He wasn’t smiling, in fact, his eyes looked sad. “You weren’t in the office today.”

Frank’s stomach dropped, then he scowled. “Look, fire me if you want okay? I don’t care.” That was a lie. “I just needed some space, needed to digest things.”

If anything, Gerard’s expression became sadder. His nose drew up and he looked away, at some point over Frank’s shoulder. Frank looked passed Gerard to see his silver car pulled up in the drive again. The car that “wasn’t flashy.” 

“Space. Right.” Gerard said, and he almost sounded hurt, although that made no sense. “I was, uh, I was just checking to see if you were okay.”

Frank blinked, “I’m fine.”

Gerard nodded, and chewed his lip, his hands fidgeting at his sides. “I’ve invited Pete and Patrick over mine,” he blurted out. “In an hour. I was, well, I was going to ask you today, but you weren’t there. If you want to come, want to talk to Patrick, then I can take you now. If you’d rather not then that’s fine too.”

Frank processed the fact that Gerard sounded weird; his speech stilted and almost careful. But – “You actually invited them over?”

“Um, yes?”

Frank grinned, and Gerard smiled back nervously. “Can we go then? Like, now?”

Gerard laughed softly, “Yes, we can. Once they get there, I’ll make Pete give the two of you some privacy so you can talk.”

 _If_ we can talk, Frank thought, somewhat bitterly. But, this wasn’t Gerard’s fault. He needed to stop getting mad at Gerard for the faults of society.

He stepped outside, but Gerard hesitated.

“Um, I’m sorry, Frank, if I overstepped my mark, last night.” He said, staring determinedly at a spot to the right of Frank’s shoulders, “I know that… I mean. I’m sorry.” He trailed off, before turning abruptly and striding towards the car.

Frank blinked. Why was Gerard apologising? For… for the hug? Frank blinked, then shook his head. He had no idea what Gerard was talking about, but he had more important things on his mind at present. Once he’d talked to Patrick – then, then he’d ask Gerard what was wrong. 

*

Gerard’s apartment was huge. It was in one of those really tall, posh blocks that Frank had never seen before, only heard people describe. The lobby was all shiny, marble and white, and the human girl at the reception desk had narrowed her eyes, scrutinised him as he walked through. You’re human. You don’t belong here. 

Gerard’s hand had found the back of Frank’s neck, and he’d cupped it there, a possessive gesture that made Frank’s stomach twist strangely. The girl’s eyes had cleared, and – right. Frank was once more a thrall.

But the actual apartment – that was more impressive than the building itself. The door opened to a huge front room, complete with multiple couches and an actual television, the screen wider than Frank’s arm span. Mikey owned a television, but it dimmed in comparison to this one. The walls were painted beige, and the whole place was, well, lighter than Frank had expected. Not that the thought Gerard lived in a bat cave, but. This place was nice.

Frank could see an open archway leading to a kitchen-diner on the wall to his right, and the one to his left containing two shut doors which he assumed led to bedrooms and bathrooms. Frank was sure his eyes were the size of dinner plates, but there was so much to look at. Frank turned back to Gerard, who flushed at the expression on Frank’s face, but he was spared having to think of an appropriate comment by a knock on the door.

Frank froze, and Gerard forced a smile, before gesturing to the front room, a clear, sit down, and turning to answer it. Frank sighed; seriously, what was up with Gerard? before making himself comfy – very comfy – on one of Gerard’s couches.

Five minutes later, and Frank and Patrick were sat alone in Gerard’s front room. Frank was actually surprised that the vampire, Pete, had let Patrick sit alone with Frank. He’d merely said that he “needed to continue a discussion with Gee anyway,” and they’d move off to the kitchen. Only in this apartment, Frank almost laughed to himself, were the front room and kitchen out of earshot with each other.

Patrick was sat somewhat awkwardly on another of Gerard’s couches. Frank scanned Patrick; his clothes didn’t look too shabby, he was still clean-shaven (and still wearing those annoying hats) and his shoes didn’t look worn. There were no outward signs that he was being mistreated, which was a relief, Frank supposed.

Patrick was watching Frank watch himself. “Frank,” he said wearily.

“Are you okay?” Frank burst into speech. “I mean, I know you’re not okay, not really, but. It is really terrible? Is there anything I can do to help? I – I’m so sorry this happened to you, I-”

“Frank.” Patrick said, one side of his moving turning upwards into a smirk. “Stop talking. Stop worrying. Let me talk, okay?”

Frank blinked. “Okay.”

“You’re not a thrall.” Patrick stated.

Frank hadn’t actually thought about how this would blow his cover for Gerard. “Uh, no, I’m not, but listen Patrick, you have to pretend that-”

“Frank. Listen, remember?” Frank fell silent. “You’re not a thrall. I know this because of how you’re acting. You speak your own mind, you interrupt me, you ask questions. All of these are thing that thralls don’t do.”

Frank nodded slowly, confused. “Um, yeah. I’m not a thrall.”

Patrick stared at Frank pointedly, waiting for the ball to drop. When Frank didn’t say anything else, he sighed.

“Frank, do I look like a thrall to you?”

Frank’s mind went blank. He stared at Patrick, replayed the conversation in his head, stared some more.

“You’re not…I. What?”

Patrick smiled sympathetically, “I’m not a thrall either, Frank. I’m fine, I’m not enslaved, or imprisoned, or anything. I’m not a thrall.”

Frank didn’t understand. “I don’t understand,” he said quietly. “Why would you…?”

Patrick sighed. “Pete chose his one “thrall” for life long before that law was passed. I just… it was only after the law that we decided to do something about it.”

Frank shook his head mutely. He still wasn’t following.

Patrick reached into his shirt and pulled out a locket on a silver chain. Frank’s eyes bugged out, and he felt his own hand grasp his shirt, where he wore a locket almost identical to the one Patrick was showing him.

“I met Pete almost a year ago,” Patrick said gently. “Although it took the thought of him having to choose another human to spend the rest of his life feeding on for me to realise I was in love with him. Turns out I’m a jealous bitch.” He laughed quietly, while Frank could only stare on.

“In – in love with him. A _vampire_?” 

Patrick’s smile faded. “Well, yeah, I. The fact that he’s a vampire is irrelevant. He’s Pete. But, I thought… What about you and Gerard?”

“What about us?” Frank asked, still trying to wrap his head around the thought of Patrick and a vampire. He hadn’t even known Patrick was gay.

Patrick looked confused, for the first time. “When I saw you last night, I thought you were a thrall. But then I saw how you reacted to Gerard ordering you out, and I knew you were like me, just pretending. The vampires didn’t notice anything, of course, why would they be looking for something like that? I thought, then. I thought you and Gerard… were like me and Pete.”

“Oh.” Patrick thought he was… in love with Gerard? That. That was. But Gerard was… Frank found himself blushing, his cheeks burning crimson. “Um. Me and Gerard aren’t… aren’t like that,” he said inanely. “Gerard’s a vampire, Patrick. I…I couldn’t.”

Patrick’s eyes were sad. “If you’d met Gerard at _The Drummer Boy_ , if he was human. Would you then?”

Frank’s mouth snapped shut. That didn’t even need thinking about. But. “It doesn’t matter,” he insisted. “Gerard isn’t human, and that’s not going to change.”

Patrick sighed, “That’s the point, Frank. It shouldn’t matter if he’s a vampire or not, just as it shouldn’t matter if you’re human or not. If you condemn him for something he can’t help, then you’re just as bad as the rest of them.”

Frank blanched. He was not like the rest of them, not like the vampires. He wasn’t condemning Gerard anyway… that was just the way it was. And okay, if Gerard was a human – but that wasn’t the point. Frank suddenly didn’t like the way this conversation had turned.

“So, you and Pete?” he said instead, only somewhat awkwardly. Patrick grinned, a soft look coming into his eyes that Frank couldn’t ever remember seeing there before.

“Yeah. He’s a pain in the ass, but.” Patrick shrugged, “I put up with him.” Clearly, he did more than that. Frank shook his head in wonder. 

“How does it work? The thrall thing?” 

“In front of other vampires I pretend to be a thrall. They never take any notice of me, so it’s pretty easy. Gerard is pretty much the only one of Pete’s friends who talks to me. We often wondered if he’d guessed, but – I guess not. He’s a good guy, Frank.” Patrick added, and Frank coughed, feeling uncomfortable again.

“I guess in one sense I am like a thrall, in that Pete – feeds off me,” Patrick continued, his gaze shifting away from Frank for the first time, looking at the floor. “But thanks to the locket it doesn’t do anything.” Patrick frowned. “But you know that, because you have a locket. And you were at _The Diner_. And you’re not a thrall. So… what are you and Gerard?”

 _That,_ Frank thought, _is a very good question._

“I’m sure Gerard is telling Pete right now,” Frank said awkwardly, “Can you just ask him to tell you? It’s a bit of a long story.”

Patrick frowned again, but nodded, and Frank relaxed in relief. He wouldn’t even know where to start.

Silence fell. It was dark outside, Frank could see, this night a clear one. The quiet stretched out, until Frank asked awkwardly, “Don’t you… miss us? Miss your old life?”

Patrick sighed quietly, his gaze dropping to the floor. “All the time, Frank. It was a hard decision to make. But I got sick of sneaking around, trying to juggle my life with Pete and my life with all of you. I had to pick.” His eyes turned soft and gentle again. “And I don’t regret my choice, Frank. But yes, I do miss it. All the time.”

They left soon after that, Pete and Patrick, leaving Frank in Gerard’s apartment with way to many thoughts swirling around his head. From not knowing what had happened to Patrick, to thinking he was enthralled, to discovering he was happily living a double life, in love with a vampire. It was a lot to take.

And there was something else. 

_It shouldn’t matter if he’s a vampire or not, just as it shouldn’t matter if you’re human or not. If you condemn him for something he can’t help, then you’re just as bad as the rest of them._

Frank could honestly say that he’d never thought about it before Patrick had said anything. But he had said something, and… yes. Frank had a lot to think about.

*

Frank was quiet during the drive home. Patrick’s words were stuck in his head. He hadn’t realised until then how much he’d missed having Patrick in his life, how steady and calm he always remained, even when Frank was freaking out.

Gerard was quiet too. Frank had no idea what he was thinking about though. He realised that he wished he did know.

When Gerard pulled up outside Frank’s house, Frank was surprised to see Gerard climbing out of the car too. He sat down, on the same wall he’d sat on when he asked Frank to work for him – it seemed like ages ago now. Frank assumed he was meant to sit too, so he did, a lot closer to Gerard this time. 

“I didn’t know about Pete and Patrick until today,” Gerard said. “You believe me, don’t you? When I found Pete to ask him over, he told me the basics, and the rest he explained just then.”

“Yeah, I believe you.” Frank said. Gerard was staring at him with a weird expression on his face. Which reminded him.

“What was the matter, earlier? You kept apologising.” Frank said, “I had no idea what you were talking about.”

It was dark, so he couldn’t really tell, but he thought Gerard blushed, “I. I thought that you were mad at me. For – for the hug.”

That was – Frank laughed. “I wasn’t mad at you. I was mad, in general. But I guess I had no need to be, because Patrick’s fine. Strangely enough, he’s happier now. I – I definitely wasn’t mad because of the hug. The hug was nice.”

Why did he say that? Frank supposed he was probably blushing too now.

“Well, good.” Gerard was looking at some point over Frank’s shoulder, and now Frank felt extremely awkward. It reminded him of that moment after a first date ends, both parties unsure whether they should hug, kiss, just say goodbye. Not that Frank had been on many first dates over the years, but he was sure the principle was the same.

“Thank you,” he finally said. “You didn’t have to do that – with Patrick, and Pete. I really appreciate it.”

Gerard smiled awkwardly. There was a birth mark underneath his right eye that Frank had never noticed before. Well, Frank supposed he hadn’t been paying much attention. But he was now. Patrick had made sure of that.

_The fact that he’s a vampire is irrelevant. He’s Pete._

Frank leaned forward and placed a kiss on Gerard’s cheek, right under the birth mark. Gently, softly. Gerard’s breath hitched, and he turned his head hesitantly towards Frank. Their noses touched, then their mouths, for the briefest of seconds.

Then Gerard pulled back, his eyes wide. Frank cleared his throat and stood up, quickly.

“I’ll see you on Monday. I’ll come to work this time, promise,” Frank said, in a rush. Gerard cracked a smile, albeit an awkward one, and got to his feet too.

“I, uh, okay?” His eyes were still wide, and he looked confused, and like he wanted to talk, and. Frank needed some time first. To digest things.

“Goodnight, Gerard.” He spoke quietly, and then turned and walked quickly up his path to the house, without looking back. Gerard’s answering “Goodnight, Frankie,” was lost in the night’s air around them.

***

Gerard sat outside Frank’s house for a long time after Frank had gone inside. His hand kept finding its way to his mouth, his cheek. Where Frank had kissed him. Kissed him. And then practically fled inside. Gerard didn’t know what anything meant, what would happen next… but he had that one moment. Where Frank had actually seemed like he wanted him. Gerard touched his lips again, softly, and smiled.

The crisp night’s air was what finally raised Gerard to his feet. He didn’t really feel like going home yet. Back to an empty apartment, facing a lonely weekend before he could see Frank again on Monday. Perhaps he’d visit Frank that weekend. After seeing Mikey, of course. It felt like forever since he’d spoken to his brother.

With that thought in mind, when Gerard climbed into his car, he drove not towards the city centre, but Mikey’s house. He had so much to tell Mikey. Not that he wasn’t sure that Mikey hadn’t already figured most of it out – but Patrick, at least. Mikey would like to know about Patrick.

He was almost at the junction that led to Mikey’s house when a movement to his right caught his eye. Not that it was unusual for anyone to be out at the time of night – no, it was the speed of movement that alarmed him; too fast to be human.

He parked up opposite a bar, _The Drummer Boy_ , and stared hard at the alley next to it, where he’d thought he’d seen someone enter. A vampire enter. Not that there was a rule against vampires roaming the human parts of the city, there couldn’t be, of course, but... this was so close to Mikey’s house that Gerard couldn’t help but feel nervous.

Crossing the road, he peered into the dark alleyway. Was that… yes. There was movement; a scuffling of limbs, a shock of blonde hair… a muffled groan. Gerard’s stomach dropped, and he started forward angrily. If that was Mikey, if anyone dared to touch Mikey – Gerard would kill them.

The movement stopped at the sound of his footsteps, and Gerard could finally distinguish a human, pressed up against the wall, a shape looming over him that could only be a vampire. Gerard felt a flash of relief; the human did have blonde hair, but wasn’t Mikey - before the vampire raised its head and horror took over him again. Bert.

“Well, if it isn’t Gee Way.” Bert’s voice was low and raspy, thick with blood lust. Gerard noted the blood dripping down his chin in quiet disgust. The human in question was slumped against the wall, moaning quietly. “As you can see, I’m a little… preoccupied, at the moment.”

“What are you doing, Bert?” Gerard was surprised at how angry he sounded.

“I’ll tell you what I’m not doing, and that’s Frank,” Bert answered, a sly look on his face, “You said nothing about his friends. Nice neighbourhood, this. So many options.”

Gerard felt sick. The blonde human, someone Frank probably knew, could so easily have been Mikey. Another time, another place – and it could be. He growled, deep in his throat.

“You need to stay away from this place.” His voice was cold and sharp. “Put him down, leave, and don’t come back here.”

Bert’s laugh sounded disbelieving. “You can’t tell me what to do, Gerard. I can feed on who I like. You have no ownership over any of these humans.”

“Neither do you!” Gerard’s voice rose, almost to a shout. “I’ll report you,” he said, in a lower voice.

Bert scoffed, “We both know that isn’t true. Now leave me alone, I wasn’t finished.”

“Let him go.”

“Leave me alone!” Bert shouted. 

Voices burst out of the bar on the side of the alleyway, and Gerard and Bert both froze, staring at the entrance. A groups of humans were exciting the bar, talking together, loud and jolly. Bert hissed, low in his throat, and shoved the human towards Gerard.

“Watch your back, Way.” He growled. “You should remember to respect your elders.”

Then he fled, disappearing into the night.

Gerard looked down at the human in his arms, blood from the wound on his neck dripping onto his shirt. Fresh blood. How long had it been since he’d had fresh blood? Gerard shook his head quickly. He had to leave, now.

The humans were still outside the bar. Gerard rested the blonde guy on the floor, then backed away. Then he turned, and fled past the humans, making sure he brushed them on his way, making sure they felt his presence.

“What the fuck?” One of them said stupidly, jumping backwards. They’d check the alley, and find the human. He’d be fine.

Gerard left his car where it was, running back towards the city centre. He’d go back for it tomorrow. All he was focused on was putting as much distance between himself and that blood as possible.

*

By the time Gerard got home, he was starving. He wasn’t sure if he’d eaten that day or not; since he’d met Frank, trivial things like feeding himself had slipped his mind. But he could feel the hunger, deep in his throat, and he needed blood. Even warm, stagnant blood bags would satisfy him in that moment.

Gerard opened the fridge and – froze. 

It was empty.

Gerard’s stomach bottomed out. It was empty. How long had it been empty for? When was the last time he’d eaten? Surely he would have realised that he’d taken the last bag? Gerard supposed he had been – distracted, these last few days. But distracted enough that he hadn’t noticed his only source of food run out?

Gerard’s hands were shaking. He was hungry. He hadn’t realised it before, before he’d seen Bert, but now he was aware of it, it was like a fire, burning in the back of his throat. Looking down, Gerard saw some of the human’s blood had dripped onto his shirt, staining it red. Unable to stop himself, he brought it to his face, inhaling deeply, and then licking over the stain. He could feel his eyes darkening, fangs lengthening; the blood lust taking over. It tasted so good. He needed more.

But there was no more.

Gerard didn’t know what to do.

***

Frank’s stomach felt coiled and tight as he took the elevator up to Gerard’s office. He couldn’t quite work out if it was with anticipation or apprehension, but something had definitely changed since he’d last seen Gerard. Whether this was a direct result of talking to Patrick, or would have developed anyway, Frank didn’t know, but the thought of seeing Gerard was doing weird things to his insides. Not unpleasant things, either.

And then there was the kiss. Barely even a kiss, really, just the briefest touch of lips, but it had definitely been – something. Something different. Something new. Something Frank would possibly be interested in trying again. It didn’t seem to matter that the thought had never crossed his mind before talking to Patrick; it was there now, and didn’t seem as if it was going anywhere any time soon. Frank had spent a lot of time deep in thought that weekend. A weekend was a long time when you were waiting for Monday morning to come around, and now that it was here, Frank just wanted to see Gerard. And do what… he didn’t know.

Gerard however, wasn’t in the office when the elevator doors slid open. Frank sat at his desk uneasily; Gerard had never arrived at work later than Frank. He had only been working for a week though – maybe Gerard was normally late, but had made an effort for Frank’s first few days. He couldn’t believe he’d known Gerard for that short a period of time; if he was honest, he couldn’t remember what it was like not having Gerard in his life. Frank shrugged to himself, and set about answering Gerard’s emails from over the weekend. At least then when Gerard did arrive, he’d be pleased.

By the time half an hour had passed though, Frank was getting worried. Okay, so he hadn’t actually known Gerard that long, but this just didn’t seem like him. He was tempted to ring Mikey and ask if Gerard was often late for work, but… why would Mikey know? He was sure he was over reacting. I’ll give it till ten, Frank thought. Don’t panic yet.

Ten o’ clock came and went, and Frank was starting to sweat. Something wasn’t right here. Was it… him? Had Gerard been freaked out by the kiss, and wasn’t coming into work to avoid seeing Frank? Frank felt his stomach bottom out; he’d been spending so much time trying to figure out if he wanted Gerard or not, the thought of Gerard not wanting him had never occurred to him. That couldn’t be it. Or, Frank hoped it wasn’t. Maybe Gerard was sick. Did vampires get sick? The more he thought about it, the more worried Frank became.

Making a decision, Frank rose swiftly to his feet and headed towards to elevator. He’d just been at Gerard’s apartment that Friday. He remembered where it was. He’d simply go and check on Gerard, make sure he was okay. And if he was okay… if he was just avoiding Frank, well. Frank didn’t know what he’d do.

Frank kept his head down the whole way to Gerard’s apartment block, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Not that he thought there was much chance of him being snatched off the street in broad daylight, but… you didn’t take chances with vampires. Unless said vampire was Gerard Way. Frank realised with a start that he no longer viewed Gerard as a vampire. He was just Gerard.

The human at the reception desk didn’t blink as Frank crossed the lobby and entered the stairwell; she must have remembered him from the last time he was here. Frank wondered briefly what she thought he was doing. Perhaps thralls were programmed to know when they were needed for feeding. Frank shuddered.

Frank almost didn’t want to knock the door to Gerard’s apartment. He was scared, he realised. He wasn’t quite sure why, but his racing pulse and tight stomach definitely qualified as fear. Taking a deep breath to try and steady his heartbeat, and reached hesitantly for the brass knocker.

The door flew open. Frank barely had time to jump before a hand grabbed his shirt collar and dragged him inside. He registered that the front room was darker than the last time he’d been here, curtains drawn to block out the sunlight, before he was slammed bodily against the wall next to the door.

“Wha-?” Gerard was in stood in front of him, pressing Frank into the wall with a vice grip against both shoulders. Or. Frank knew that it was Gerard, but the person before him didn’t look like any Gerard Frank remembered knowing. The vampire before him.

Gerard’s black hair was hanging in front of his face, masking his paler than ever skin. His mouth was open, his shoulders rising and falling as he panted heavily, and his fangs were clearer than ever. And his eyes – his pupils were blown, two black coals in his face, and his expression as he looked Frank up and down could only be described as hungry. For the first time since he had met Gerard, Frank felt scared of him.

“Gerard, what are you-?” Gerard made an inhuman noise in the back of his throat, half growl, half whimper, and leaned into Frank, pushing his nose into the hollow under Frank’s jaw and inhaling deeply. Smelling him.

“Fuck, Frankie…” Even his voice sounded different, lower and raspy, and well. Less human. “So good. You smell so good.”

Frank pushed at Gerard’s shoulders, trying to get away, trying to release Gerard’s grip on him, but Gerard didn’t even seem to notice. He was nuzzling the side of Frank’s neck, pressing his face into it. 

“Gerard,” Frank voice was high, frantic. This could not be happening. Not to him. Not with Gerard. Hadn’t he just been thinking that he didn’t think of Gerard as a vampire? Gerard made another noise, halfway between a growl and a purr, and Frank took a shuddery gasp of breath. He could almost taste the irony.

“Gerard, where are your blood bags? Just let me go, I’ll get you some blood, I-“

“All gone,” Gerard rasped, his face still pressed into Frank’s neck, taking in his scent, “S’all gone, Frankie, I ran out. No more blood.” He raised his head, and his black eyes met Frank’s. They were empty of all emotion except desperate hunger, and Frank was terrified. “I’m so hungry, Frankie.”

He brought his face back down to Frank’s neck, and Frank whimpered. There was no way he could stop Gerard, he wasn’t strong enough. His mouth starting running off, unchecked, completely panicking. “Gerard, you can’t do this. You don’t agree with it, remember? About taking away free will? You think it’s wrong. It is wrong. You – you can’t do this.” His voice cracked, past pleading, outright begging.

“S’okay, Frankie,” Gerard’s voice sounded unhinged, mad. He licked a line up Frank’s neck, and Frank jerked away, shutting his eyes tightly, whimpering. “Why are you scared? You shouldn’t be scared. Just let me, Frankie. It’s okay. I need it.”

The locket, Frank realised, must be keeping him lucid, keeping him from succumbing to Gerard’s will and letting him feed. He hung onto that thought desperately.

“Gerard - Gerard, remember the locket? Remember you gave it to me? You don’t want to do this, that’s why you gave me the locket, remember? So you wouldn’t do this. Please, remember?” Gerard nuzzled his throat again, his collar-bone. Frank’s voice broke, trembling. “Please – Gee. Please.”

Gerard froze against Frank, his entire body stilling. The only sound in the dark apartment was Frank’s heavy breathing, bordering on hyperventilating. Gerard didn’t move, didn’t breath, for a full ten seconds. Frank counted, his eyes still shut tight, his whole body trembling. Then, Gerard threw himself across the apartment, moving so quickly Frank didn’t see it happening; one second he had Frank pressed against the wall, the next, he was on the other side of the front room, cowering in a heap beside the couch.

“Frank.” Gerard’s voice was urgent, but – different than before, higher and clearer and closer to his normal voice, “Frank, get out, you have to leave.”

Frank took a hesitant step into the front room, and Gerard held up his hands, pushing himself backwards. He was still on the floor, one hand clutching the couch so hard Frank could see the material tearing, and when he looked up, his eyes were wild. 

“No! No, you need to leave, you need to leave now. I can’t… I can’t control… _Frank_.” Gerard’s voice was desperate, and sounded close to tears, “I’m so sorry, I can’t – I need – please, _please_ leave.”

Frank couldn’t move. He didn’t know what to do. Rationally, he knew he should be fleeing, should leave the apartment and never look back. If Frank hadn’t have been able to break through, Gerard would have fed on him. Against Frank’s will. Frank should definitely leave. 

But – he couldn’t. Looking as he did now, trembling on the floor… Frank felt a surge of sympathy for Gerard. He couldn’t control this – this bloodlust. That much was clear. What would happen if Frank left? Gerard would get hungrier and hungrier until his control broke and he ventured outside to find a human to feed on – a human with no locket, like Frank had. And afterwards, when Gerard was finished, once he was back in his right mind… he would hate himself. At least Frank had the locket. At least Frank was still lucid, still able to make the decision. A decision he never thought he’d be making.

Hardly able to believe what he was doing, Frank slowly took a step into the front room, towards Gerard. Gerard whimpered again, and buried his head in the couch seat, his hands still gripping the material tightly, his knuckles white. Frank moved across the room slowly, as if he were approaching a startled animal; not wanting it to run away, but at the same time, not wanting it to charge at him.

He knelt down cautiously in front of Gerard. Gerard’s head was still pressed into the couch, and Frank realised he was uttering something under his breath, quick and low. He leaned closer, trying to hear the whispered words.

“I’m so sorry, Frankie, I’m so sorry, please forgive me, I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry, please don’t hate me, I’m so sorry…”

Over and over again. Frank felt something in his chest tug sharply, and he brought a hand up to stroke Gerard’s hair carefully. Gerard shuddered at the touch and tried to back away, but the couch was in the way, trapping him between it and Frank.

Frank took a deep breath, and hoped this wasn’t about to go wrong. He was confident that Gerard would stop when he’d taken enough, or well, he hoped Gerard would. Although a few minutes ago Frank would have done anything to stop Gerard from taking his blood, now, when he was able to make the choice, it didn’t seem like such a terrible thing. He had the locket, after all. As long as Gerard remembered to stop.

Frank reached for Gerard’s face, and slowly took hold of his chin, turning it to face him. Gerard’s eyes were still dark, but they were no longer empty; terror shone out from them, loud and clear. He was holding himself stiff; half of him clearly still wanting to lunge at Frank, the other half holding him back. His voice was barely above a whisper. 

“F-Frank, what are you-?”

Frank raised his left wrist, and brought Gerard’s face gently towards it.

“Here, Gee, drink this, it’s okay…” Gerard shook his head desperately, his eyes shut tightly. 

“Gee, you need it. It’s fine, take it…”

Gerard tried to resist for a moment longer, and then his will broke, taking Frank’s wrist in both of his hands and sinking his teeth into it.

Frank had always thought it would hurt, being bitten. And yeah – he could feel Gerard’s fangs digging into his wrist, and he could feel the blood leaving his body, which was a bit of a mindfuck… but it didn’t hurt. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but… it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling either.

Gerard pulled Frank’s wrist closer to his face, cupping it almost reverently in his palms. He broke off to breath, deep and gasping, then bit him again, his eyes flickering closed. Frank could see the little colour he usually carried return to his cheeks, and knew that if Gerard opened his eyes, they would no longer be black and empty. 

Then Gerard moaned.

It wasn’t small, in the back of his throat – but a full out, loud, porn moan. He broke off, gasping, to murmur, “Fuck, Frankie… you taste so good.” His voice was wrecked, and – he sounded like sex. Latching back onto Frank’s wrist, he continued sucking. 

But now it was different. Frank could feel his breathing starting to get heavier, his pants starting to tighten. And surely – he couldn’t be getting turned on by this. That was – wrong, on so many levels. But Gerard moaned again, leaning his whole body over Frank’s wrist, and Frank’s breathing hitched. Gerard met Frank’s gaze, and fuck. It was fucking pornographic, his pupils blown, but not with hunger this time. With desire. Frank almost felt dizzy from the loss of blood to his head, his dick straining against his pants.

“Fuck,” Frank whispered. His voice sounding breathy, and Gerard looked up properly, a line of blood running down the side of his mouth. Frank’s blood, and - what the fuck, that shouldn’t be sexy. When had he even started using words like “sexy” to describe Gerard? But it was, and Frank didn’t even know what sort of expression he was making, but Gerard’s eyes seemed to darken and he lunged forward, pushing Frank backwards onto the couch and straddling his lap, attaching his mouth to his neck and biting in.

Frank’s breathing hitched again, and his hands grabbed Gerard’s hips, pulling him close. He didn’t know what was happening – until yesterday, he hadn’t even thought of Gerard in any way other than a possible-maybe-friend, and now. Now all he wanted to do was grind up into Gerard until they both came and then do it again, with Gerard sucking his blood the whole time. Since when had Frank gotten so fucking kinky? 

“Frank,” Gerard panted, against Frank’s neck. He wasn’t biting anymore, Frank realised, just sucking on Frank’s neck, licking over what Frank was sure was a pretty hefty wound and up to his jawline. He could feel Gerard hard against his thigh, and that was great, it really was, but it would be better if – Frank shifted, and they both gasped. Yeah. That would be better.

Gerard rocked forwards and Frank groaned out loud, one of his hands flying up to tangle itself in Gerard’s hair, keeping his head in place. Gerard was kissing up Frank’s jawline, his voice breathy in Frank’s ear, gasping, “Fuck, fuck, _Frankie_ ,” as they found a rhythm.

“Yeah, yeah Gee,” Frank was moving frantically, and he could feel it coming, rushing towards him like a tidal wave, and it was all he could do to bury his head in Gerard’s shoulder and cry out as he came.

“Oh god, _Jesus_.” Gerard followed soon after, throwing his head back, and Frank looked up in time to see the expression on his face, his jaw slackened and his eyes fluttering shut.

For a while the only sound in the room was their combined breathing, heavy and loud. Frank’s body felt weightless, as if he was floating up among the clouds, and he shut his eyes, sinking into the couch.

Eventually, Gerard climbed off his lap and knelt down on the floor in front of him. His eyes were wide as he looked up at Frank, wide and confused.

“Frank, I – what was… why -?”

Frank smiled, and reaching down, cupped Gerard’s cheek with his hand. Gerard fell silent immediately, watching Frank with a nervous expression. Frank smiled at him, feeling almost shy, and then did what he’d been wanting to do subconsciously since Friday, since before that, actually, if Frank thought about it. He brought Gerard’s face towards his and kissed him.

Gerard’s lips were surprisingly soft; Frank kissed him gently. Gerard was unmoving for a moment, his brain trying to catch up, before he brought his hands up to Frank’s face, one curling in his hair and the other resting against his cheek, and pressed back, deepening the kiss. Frank felt Gerard’s tongue run across his lower lip, and he sucked it into his mouth, relishing the soft gasping sound Gerard made in the back of his throat. There was no urgency, just the two of them on the couch, kissing again and again.

When Gerard pulled back, his lips were wet and swollen, and Frank tried to wrap his head around the fact that he had caused that. Gerard was staring at him with a soft expression that Frank had never seen on his face before. His eyes were shining, his face full of colour, and he looked, well – happy.

Then his smile dimmed.

“Frank, I’m so sorry,” he started, “I – I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am. By the time I realised there was no blood left it was too late to do anything about it, I couldn’t go outside like that, I. I couldn’t stop myself, I –”

“Shh,” Frank pulled Gerard up into a hug, wrapped his arms around him and held him tight. Was it only a few days ago that the thought of hugging Gerard had been repulsive to him? Now, he couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do. “It’s okay, I get it. It wasn’t you, it was the blood. It’s fine, I forgive you.”

Gerard made a soft sound, and buried his face in Frank’s shoulder, his hands fisting Frank’s shirt tightly. Time seemed to blur as they sat like that, embracing for what could have been seconds or minutes or hours, Frank didn’t know. Eventually, he started to register the uncomfortable stickiness in his pants.

“Um, Gerard?” Gerard looked up. “As much as I think we need to talk about this,” he gestured between the two of them, trying to summarise whatever the hell had just happened in one hand gesture, “We probably need to get back to work. I’m sure you have stuff you need to be doing.”

Gerard’s eyes widened, as if he’d forgotten that he was actually meant to be somewhere. Frank laughed, “You can drive me home after work. We’ll talk then, okay?” That gave him the rest of the day to try and articulate his feelings; at the moment all he could pick out of the confusion was that he really wanted to kiss Gerard again. He did, gently and quickly, and when he pulled back, Gerard was flushed, and smiling shyly. Frank could so get used to this.

“Yeah,” Gerard got to his feet, pulling Frank up after him, “Okay. Work first, talking later.” He smiled again, that soft, shy I can’t believe this smile that Frank never wanted to leave his face. Then he started making his way to the door.

“Uh, Gerard?”

Gerard turned back to Frank, frowning questioningly. Frank giggled.

“I think we need to change pants first.”

*

Frank felt buzzed, all over, sitting in the passenger seat of Gerard’s car. Work had been… weird. Answering emails, sorting out dates, with Gerard sat a few feet away, and the knowledge of what had happened that morning, what could be started. Needless to say, Frank found it hard to concentrate. It was a relief when Gerard called it a day, earlier than usual, and headed outside. Frank had followed eagerly. 

They’d had to catch a bus into Frank’s part of town, to pick up Gerard’s car from the roadside, where he’d left it after his run in with Bert. Frank had gotten a secret thrill out of sitting in the vampire section of the bus, ignoring any looks from the vampires surrounding him, focusing instead on the feel of Gerard’s hand on his thigh; firm and secure.

He wasn’t sure how this was going to work, wasn’t sure what exactly he wanted – except, that he knew that he wanted Gerard. Whatever doubts or misgivings he’d walked into the office with this morning had been erased by the expression on Gerard’s face after Frank had kissed him. Frank wanted Gerard to look like that all the time. And he wanted to be the one to put it there.

“Frank…” Gerard’s voice was quiet, tilting up at the end to form a question. They’d hardly spoken since they’d arrived back at Gerard’s office, but it hadn’t been a strained silence. Rather, Frank had found the atmosphere one of the most comfortable he’d been in since he started work. It was almost as if an equilibrium had been reached between them, a point of balance.

Frank just smiled softly in answer, and reached across to grasp Gerard’s hand on the gear stick. He stroked his thumb over Gerard’s knuckles and felt a thrill in his stomach as he watched Gerard blush.

And to think that he’d been determined to ignore this – this thing between them, to put it in a box and shut the lid firmly, all because of what Gerard was. Frank was beginning to realise, for the first time in his life, that it wasn’t only the vampires who discriminated.

When Gerard pulled up outside Frank’s house, Frank climbed out immediately and made his way through his shabby garden to unlock the door.

“Frank?” Gerard was stood by his car, his expression confused and almost nervous looking. Frank raised an eyebrow.

“I – I thought we were going to talk?”

Frank smiled at how Gerard was staring fixedly at the floor. “We are going to talk. Inside. My couch may only be slightly comfier than my garden wall, but at least it’s warmer in there.”

Gerard’s head snapped up in surprise, his eyes disbelieving. “Inside? Inside your house?”

Frank’s smile broadened. “That was me inviting you in, in case you need it said officially.”

Gerard continued to look blank for a couple more seconds, and then his face split into a wide grin, eyes positively shining. Frank held open the door for him and he took a hesitant first step through, moving past Frank into the hallway. Frank could see Gerard’s gaze sweeping over his small sitting room, with its single couch and fireplace, to the boarded up window in the kitchen with its single chair at the table. Frank never had visitors, there was no need for any extra expenses.

Gerard turned to face Frank, and Frank looked at the floor, not wanting to see the pity in his eyes. Frank had never felt embarrassed of his lot in life before now; no one he knew was particularly wealthy. It was an accepted fact that houses were not the place to meet up, that everyone was in the same boat. Except for Mikey, of course, but no one could feel embarrassed around Mikey.

“I, uh,” Frank started, “I know it isn’t… well, compared to your place, it’s-”

“Shut up, Frank.” Gerard said, almost fiercely, and when Frank looked up, Gerard’s face was inches from his. “Don’t ever feel like you have to explain this.” He gestured behind him, then brought his hand up to Frank’s face, to stroke a thumb under Frank’s eye. When he spoke again Frank could feel his breath ghost over his face.

“Thank you for trusting me.”

It was Gerard, this time, who lowered his face to Frank’s and captured his mouth in a kiss. Frank had been worried that it would be awkward, that they wouldn’t know how to initiate anything, but right now, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to wrap his arms around Gerard’s waist and pull him close, to open his mouth under Gerard’s tongue and deepen the kiss.

Gerard made a soft sound in the back of his throat, not quite a moan, not quite a gasp, and Frank walked him backwards, into the front room, until the back of Gerard’s knees hit the couch. Gerard pulled Frank down beside him and kissed him again, Frank’s hands sliding under Gerard’s shirt and feeling the soft skin beneath. Gerard broke away and kissed line down Frank’s neck, stopping at his collarbone and breathing in gently. Frank tried to steady his breathing, and curled a hand in Gerard’s mass of hair.

“You can, if you want,” he said softly, squeezing Gerard’s head gently. “Take more blood. You’re probably still hungry.”

He didn’t know how he’d expected Gerard to react to that, but it certainly wasn’t to push himself away from Frank, shooting to the opposite end of the couch and staring at him with wide eyes.

“Please, Frank, don’t offer that,” Gerard said, his voice quiet. “It wouldn’t be a good idea for me to feed from you again.”

Frank frowned. He knew it was ridiculous to feel hurt; he shouldn’t want a vampire to feed from him, but… it had felt like more than that, this morning. He’d assumed it would be something they would do again.

“It’s just,” Gerard began, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck, “I don’t want to become… dependent on it. On your blood, I mean. That wouldn’t be healthy, for either of us.” He blushed slightly. “I don’t want you to be my thrall, in any sense of the word.”

“No, I get it.” Frank said. He felt a smile spread slowly across his face, and saw Gerard’s answering one. “I. I did want to talk about… that, though.”

Gerard nodded, indicating for him to continue.

“Is it always like that?” Frank asked, hoping his own face wasn’t reddening. Whenever he had previously thought of being fed on, it had never occurred to him that it might feel… sexual, in any way. 

Gerard’s laugh sounded like it was startled out of him. “No, never. Well, never for me, anyway.”

Frank found himself feeling strangely relieved at that. He reached forward and grasped Gerard’s hands between his own. Gerard ran his thumb over Frank’s knuckles, a smile tracing his lips.

“How did I end up like this?” Frank wondered. Gerard looked up sharply, and Frank shook his head, smiling slightly, I don’t mean – I’m not reconsidering, I’m not changing my mind. I just – I hate vampires. Used to… still do. But I. I like you. Quite a lot, I’m coming to realise.”

Gerard shuffled closer to Frank on the couch, moving his hand up Frank’s arm to grip his elbow. “It will be hard,” he said softly. “To keep me secret from your friends. To act like a thrall in the presence of mine. You need to be sure… is it worth it?”

 _Am I worth it?_ Frank heard. He leaned forwards, until his forehead rested gently against Gerard’s. The look in Gerard’s eyes was still slightly bewildered, as if he couldn’t quite believe this was happening. Frank kissed him, softly, showing Gerard with his body how very sure he was, how he didn’t think anything could change his mind at this point. He was in too deep.

***  
***

Mikey's expression was definitely not amused.

“I’m _sorry,_ ” Gerard said again, just to emphasise. “I would have told you everything sooner, but at first, when I thought nothing would come of it, I didn’t want to tell anyone. And then I ran out of blood, and – that happened. I swear I didn’t mean to keep anything from you.”

Mikey sighed, “Gee, your crush on Frank was visible from space, believe me, I’d already figured that out.”

 _Had it been?_ Gerard didn’t think he’d been that obvious about it. This was Mikey he was talking to though. Sometimes Gerard wondered if Mikey was actually psychic.

“So…?”

“So it’s not the fact that you didn’t tell me about Frank – it’s, Gerard. How could you let yourself run out of blood?”

Gerard blanched. He could still remember the feeling of desperation, of utter helplessness that had overcome him as the hunger took over. It was as if a film had covered his vision, his everything, and the only thing that could get past was – blood. The smell of blood, fresh and enticing and Gerard needed it. Nothing else could get through the film, until – 

_“Please – Gee. Please.”_

Gerard shuddered. What would have happened if Frank hadn’t been able to get through? If Gerard had forcefully taken his blood? That was never going to happen again.

Mikey’s eyes had turned sympathetic. They were sat on the couch in Mikey’s front room, and Mikey shuffled closer to Gerard, to grip his shoulder tightly.

“It’s okay Gee, you didn’t do anything. You could have, you very nearly did. But nothing happened.”

“Mikey, I – it did. I still took Frank’s blood.”

Mikey grimaced. “That’s different, Gee. He offered. And – as glad as I am that the two of you have got over yourselves and let something actually happen, I really don’t want to hear about any more of your kinky blood-sex, okay? There is such a thing as too much information between brothers.”

Gerard giggled, loud and unexpected. “It – it wasn’t. Huh. I guess it was kind of kinky, wasn’t it?”

Mikey rolled his eyes. “Just don’t fuck up again, okay?” His expression switched from playful to serious. “Seriously, Gerard. Don’t hurt him, okay? He – I’ve never even seen him hook up with the same person twice. This is a big deal for him, this thing with you.”

Gerard’s mouth dropped open. “I would never hurt him! Mikey, how could you say that?”

Mikey rolled his eyes, his tone lightening again, “I’m not saying you will, Gee. Just. He doesn’t trust easily, okay? Don’t give him reason to break it.”

Gerard knew that. He knew that Frank could count the people he trusted on one hand. Gerard didn’t actually think he would ever be one of those people. When Frank had invited him in – Gerard couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such happiness. Well, apart from the moment in Gerard’s apartment, when Frank had kissed him. And well, the sex. That was pretty good too.

“Whatever you’re thinking about, I don’t want to know.” Mikey interjected. Gerard blushed, and couldn’t help a small smile spreading over his face. He still couldn’t believe this had happened, that this was happening. That Frank actually wanted him. Frank.

“I, uh,” Gerard tried to regain his train of thought. “There was something else I wanted to talk to you about, un-Frank related.”

“You mean you still think about things un-Frank related?” Mikey’s tone was mocking.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“You love me.”

Gerard rolled his eyes, pushing his hair out of his face. He really needed to cut it sometime soon.

“No, it’s – actually about Bert.” Mikey’s expression shifted into a frown. “I, um. I caught him feeding on a human, last week. It was close to here, you might have known him. I was going to tell you straight away, but – the blood happened.”

Mikey’s face paled. “Did you see what he looked like?”

Gerard picked his brain. “Only that he was blonde. I was terrified that it was you, at first.”

“Shit,” Mikey muttered. 

“What’s wrong?”

Mikey sighed quietly. “Andy and Joe found Quinn, last Friday, unconscious in the alley next to The Drummer Boy. Bleeding from the neck.”

“Yeah, it was last Friday. That would be him. I got him to stop before he went too far, though.” Gerard explained. “He was pretty pissed, but. I don’t think he’ll come back. Your friends interrupted us, and I think it scared him away.”

Mikey was shaking his head. “No, Gee, I think he will be back. We don’t think that’s the first time he’s fed on Quinn. Apparently Joe found multiple lacerations, on his neck, his chest. They took Quinn home, and the next day, he couldn’t remember anything.”

“Shit.” Gerard echoed.

“Yeah. This past week or two, no one’s seen him much. He’s been arranging to meet people and then not showing up. It – it sounds like-”

“Bert’s enthralling him.” Gerard finished. He was pissed. “I – I can’t believe him! Well, I can, but. I – I’ll talk to him, Mikes, I’ll tell him to stay away from your friend.”

“Will that work?” Mikey frowned.

“I doubt it,” Gerard sighed. “But, he can’t do this, again! Someone needs to do something. At least I’ll have tried.”

“I’m really worried about him, Gee.” Mikey said, his voice quiet. “I don’t know what we can do to help him.”

Gerard pulled Mikey close to him and stroked his hair gently. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing his forehead. Mikey sighed again.

“Does Frank know?” The thought occurred to him suddenly. “He didn’t say anything.”

“Frank hasn’t been round much lately,” Mikey said. “That’s your doing, I suppose.” He poked Gerard’s side, who yelped. “So no, he doesn’t know. You can tell him when you next see him, if you want.”

“I – no.” Gerard decided. “He’s already scared of Bert, no matter how much he doesn’t want to admit it. And… he’s only just.” Gerard paused, trying to find the right words. “He trusts me, now. I don’t want anything to – put him off. I, I don’t want him to be scared off.” His voice trailed off, quiet.

“Oh, Gee.” Mikey rolled his eyes. “He won’t be. But, it’s up to you, I guess.”

The front door opening interrupted them both. Gerard’s eyes widened, but Mikey rolled his eyes.

“Hey Frank.” He called out in monotone.

“How did you know it was me?” Frank’s voice answered, Frank himself appearing a moment later at the door to the front room. He was smiling, and his smile widened when he saw Gerard, sitting next to Mikey on the couch. Gerard could feel his answering blush spreading over his cheeks.

“We were just talking about you.” Mikey said, glancing at Gerard, who ignored him.

“Good things, I hope,” Frank said, flopping next to Gerard on the couch and planting a wet kiss on his cheek.

“Always,” Gerard answered. He smiled at Frank, shocked at his display of affection, in front of someone else. Gerard had assumed that Frank would be embarrassed to be associated with him when they weren’t alone.

“You two disgust me.” Mikey stated, but he was smiling, so Gerard knew he was joking.

“So, what are we talking about?” Frank asked brightly.

Gerard hesitated, glancing at Mikey.

“Gerard’s next comic idea,” Mikey said, giving Gerard a small smile, before turning back to Frank.

Thank you, Gerard thought.

Frank immediately grinned, his hand finding Gerard’s on the couch. “Tell me!”

*

It was surprising to Gerard, how quickly they settled into a routine. How this drastic change actually seemed to have little effect on how he spent his day. 

At work, Frank was his secretary. Okay, things weren’t exactly as they were before. The loaded silences and awkward pauses in conversation were gone, replaced by hours of talking. Frank was determined to complete all his duties as secretary; he didn’t want to be paid for doing nothing. And apart from the odd lingering glance or peck on the cheek, no-one outside of the two of them would think their relationship was anything but professional.

At _The Diner_ , Frank was his thrall. Gerard didn’t bring Frank with him every time, normally, it was the day’s Patrick would be there too. The two of them could sit at their own table, the “thrall table,” as Gabe called it, and talk. Gabe and Brendon and the others mostly ignored them, which was fine with Gerard. More often, though, Frank spent his evenings with his own friends; he’d realised he’d begun to neglect them, and didn’t want to end up in Patrick’s situation, having to choose between Gerard and his friends. 

And afterwards, back at Gerard’s apartment, or occasionally, at Frank’s house, Frank was… Gerard didn’t quite know yet. His boyfriend, he guessed, although neither of them had said the word aloud. Whatever he was, Gerard could kiss him. Could explore his body, tracing the patterns in his skin, first with his fingers, then with his tongue. Could learn how to make Frank laugh, that high pitched giggle, unlike any sound Gerard had heard before. Could curl up to Frank, afterwards, and fall asleep watching the rise and fall of Frank’s chest.

It shouldn’t have been that easy, but it was. The blood drinking wasn’t brought up again. Neither was Bert.

Gerard had tried talking to Bert about Quinn, but honestly, he thought he’d only made things worse. Bert was obviously still pissed that Gerard had interrupted him last time. He’d told Gerard that if he did it again, he’d regret it. Gerard had replied calmly that if Bert stayed away from that part of town, he wouldn’t have to be interrupted. Bert hadn’t liked that.

Gerard didn’t care. He snuggled closer to Frank, burying his face in Frank’s shoulder and listening to his soft snores. He was happy. Happier than he could ever remember being.

It was almost too easy. Gerard should have realised that. He should have been prepared for when things started to go wrong.

*

“So, I’ll come here again tomorrow?” Gerard asked.

The night was clear and blue. Gerard’s breath was visible as he stood in Mikey’s doorway. Gerard had popped in to say hi before going on to The Diner, and had found Mikey and Frank getting ready to leave themselves.

Mikey rolled his eyes. “Gerard, you’re not neglecting me. You don’t have to come visit every day.”

“I know that!” Gerard protested. He hadn’t been thinking that at all. Maybe.

“Well, I’m busy tomorrow anyway,” Mikey said.

“He has a date,” Frank added.

“A date?” Gerard raised his eyebrows. “With who?”

“Shut the fuck up, Frank,” Mikey said, elbowing Frank in the stomach, “It’s no-one. Just this girl. You can come over the day after though.”

“We can have a date of our own tomorrow,” Frank put in. He winked at Gerard, who rolled his eyes, pecking Frank on the cheek as he made his way outside.

“Yeah, we’ll see. Later, Mikey!”

“Bye Gee.”

Gerard was smiling as he walked down Mikey’s pathway to the main road. He liked being able to hang out with Mikey and Frank at the same time. 

He shivered, shoving his hands in his pockets, and picked up his pace. Since Gerard was in this area so often, between visiting Mikey and Frank, he’d taken to walking, leaving his car at home. It was too suspicious, seeing the same car driving to two different places. Only vampires own cars, and what business would a vampire have visiting more than one human? There was only one use for humans, in most vampires’ eyes.

Gerard was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice Bert until he almost walked into him. Them, Gerard’s brain corrected internally. There are two of them. Then Gerard registered that the figure next to Bert was a human, the same blond human, and that Bert’s mouth was lined with blood, and that this was Mikey’s land. Gerard saw red.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Gerard hissed. Mikey’s land. Bert was on Mikey’s land. The human, Quinn, must have been on his way to meet Mikey and Frank. Gerard could feel his palms sweating with how close Mikey had come to being in danger.

Bert sighed. “Really, Gerard? Again? Are you stalking me now or what?”

“Get away from him!”

Quinn moaned; still conscious, Gerard realised. Gerard lunged forward, reaching for Quinn, and Bert, taken by surprise, stepped backwards, letting the human fall from his grasp. Gerard backed away, his arms tucked under Quinn’s armpits, his face angled away from the blood dripping from the open wound on his neck.

“What the fuck, Gerard?” Bert said furiously, “Give it the fuck back, that’s my dinner! This isn’t funny anymore.”

“When was it ever funny?” Gerard bit back. “Get out of here, Bert. I mean it.”

Bert laughed, “Come one, Gee. We both know who the stronger one is here, and it isn’t you.”

Gerard knew this. He also knew that he didn’t care.

The sound of footsteps made Gerard and Bert both turn, and Gerard’s eyes closed briefly with horror. Frank and Mikey were running towards them, having obviously left the house and seen the disturbance. Gerard opened his eyes again to see Bert smirking as he recognised Frank, then lingering with interest on Mikey. 

“Gerard, what the hell?” he heard Mikey shout. Bert’s gaze snapped back to Gerard, the smirk still fixed on his face, a glint in his eye that Gerard wanted to quell.

Gerard positioned himself in front of Mikey and Frank. “Back the fuck off, Bert.” His voice sounded alien, too low and intense to be coming from his mouth.

Frank and Mikey reached them. “Take him to the hospital,” Gerard told them quickly, shoving Quinn into Mikey’s arms. “Get out of here, now.”

They both hesitated. Frank was glaring at Bert, his expression hard. Mikey, however, was looking at Gerard, fear clearly etched on his face as he took in the bloody mark on Quinn’s neck and the vampire in front of him.

“Mikey, go.” Gerard said, more gently. “It’s not safe.”

Mikey nodded, and backed away, half dragging, half carrying Quinn. Bert roared, and lunged forward, but Gerard leapt forward to meet him and held him back.

“Frank, help him!” Gerard shouted.

Frank shook his head. He was still staring at Bert, and he made a move forward, as if to help Gerard.

“Frank, don’t be an idiot, get out of here!” Gerard yelled. Bert’s eyes were dark, fixed on the retreating figures. He struggled against Gerard, snarling in his ear. Frank still hadn’t moved.

“Iero!” Gerard snapped, losing it, “ _Get out of here_!” 

It was a reflex, he thought, afterwards, to call Frank Iero. Back when he was human, that was how he’d addressed the Frank he knew. He wasn’t sure why it came out, then, but the effect was immediate. Bert drew back, staring at Frank with a new expression on his face, one Gerard didn’t like one bit.

“Iero? Frank Iero?” Bert turned back to Gerard, and laughed, loudly and unpleasantly. “Seriously, Gerard? Iero?”

“What’s he talking about?” Frank asked, taking half a step forward, and then backing away again. 

Bert laughed again, louder and harsher. “He hasn’t told you?” he directed at Frank, who looked to Gerard, unsure. Gerard felt his stomach bottom out, and he glared at Bert.

“Fuck off. Seriously Bert, you had your fun with your little human toy, now get out of here.”

Bert’s expression turned dark. He stepped closer to Gerard, their faces inches apart. “You’ll regret doing this, Gerard. I mean it. Serious fucking regret.”

He winked at Frank, who shrank back, then took off, out of sight before Gerard could blink. Turning around, Gerard saw that Mikey and Quinn were out of sight. At least that was one less thing to worry about. Of course, he’d just been giving a lot of new things to worry about instead.

Frank was standing a few feet away from his, his arms wrapped around himself, looking small and unsure. Gerard couldn’t read his expression, and he didn’t like that fact.

“Why did Bert know my surname?” Frank asked, his voice ringing clearly in the cool air. Frank wasn’t wearing a jacket, and he was shivering.

“Um.” Gerard ran a hand through his hair and over his face. Great. He’d never planned on telling Frank – telling anyone – this, and now Bert had made him look like he was keeping secrets. Which, well, he was.

“Can we go back to yours?” he asked, chickening out, trying to postpone the inevitable. “I guess I have some stuff to explain.”

“I guess you do.” Gerard tried not to wince at how cold Frank’s voice sounded. He followed Frank back to his house, the silence between them colder than the air.

***

By the time they reached Frank’s house, Frank was freaking the fuck out. Bert had attacked Quinn. He knew Mikey would get him to the hospital in time, he knew Quinn would be okay, but still. This was all a bit too close to home. Plus, Bert had scared him, and there was no use trying to pretend otherwise. It wasn’t so much the fact that Bert knew his surname; Gerard could have told him that. It was Gerard’s reaction, paling so fast Frank had thought he was going to throw up. That, and the way Bert had laughed; a bark, cold and cruel.

Gerard was obviously hiding something. That thought made Frank’s stomach twist so painfully it surprised him. He was apparently unaware at the depth of his feelings for the vampire. And obviously, this was a great time to discover that depth, between the guilty, frightened looks Gerard kept shooting him, and the heavy silence surrounding them.

Frank unlocked the door and entered his front room without waiting for Gerard to follow. He was freezing; he hadn’t expected to need a jacket for a night out with the guys at _The Drummer Boy_. Boy, was this night turning out different than expected.

He sat on his couch and crossed his arms, staring at the window stonily. He wasn’t going to talk – this was Gerard’s mess, he was the one apparently keeping Bert related secrets from him. Gerard sure as hell was the one who was going to fix it.

“Frank.” Frank was shocked to hear Gerard’s voice tinted with despair, and turning his head, saw that Gerard was hovering in the entrance to the front room, his hands twisting in front of him, face a picture of misery. This was obviously something serious. Frank could feel his stomach dropping.

“Frank, please don’t be mad at me,” Gerard said, his voice strained and desperate. Frank felt a surge of sympathy for him; he really was the epitome of misery – terrified, even. He wanted to reach out, pull Gerard into a hug. But he had to know first.

“Explain Bert’s reaction to my surname, and I’ll tell you if I’m mad or not.” Frank’s voice came out harsher than he’d intended, and Gerard visibly flinched. He moved into the room hesitantly, perching on the edge of the couch. His expression was almost resigned, as if he knew what was coming next. That, more than anything, was what scared Frank the most.

“I’m sorry, it’s just. I’ve never told - I. It’s been.” Gerard trailed off, then shook his head, trying to clear it. “I’m sorry. I’ve just never told anyone the story of how I was turned.”

Frank blinked in surprise. How Gerard was turned… into a vampire? That wasn’t the direction he was expecting this conversation to go.

“It was, well. It was the worst day of my life,” Gerard laughed without humour. “I not only lost my humanity, I lost my best friend.”

Frank nodded slowly, listening attentively, but unable to see how this related to himself.

Gerard sighed, as if bracing himself. “Did your family ever tell you exactly how your great-grandfather died?”

Frank’s mind went blank. He scrambled backwards on the couch, trying to distance himself from Gerard. He could feel his eyes widening, could see Gerard’s face turn pleading, but the ringing in his ears blocked out all sound. Gerard… Gerard had known… and he hadn’t told him.

Gerard reached out a hand, and Frank slapped it away. “You knew him? My great-grandfather?” 

“Yes.” Gerard’s voice was barely audible.

“How could you keep that from me?” Frank’s voice was high. “Oh god, is that why you… did you…”

Gerard seemed to grasp what Frank couldn’t ask. “Oh, no, no! I only ever thought of him as a friend. No, Frank, that has nothing to do with what I feel for you.”

Frank didn’t know what to think. His head was spinning, and he had the overwhelming urge to cry. “How can I believe you? I don’t… I don’t know what to believe…”

Gerard definitely looked like he wanted to cry. He shuffled forward slightly, towards Frank, his hands held out in front of him. “Frank, I. I didn’t keep it from you because I didn’t want you to know, I just. I don’t talk about this. I’ve never talked about this.”

“Why?” Frank’s voice was croaky, weak.

Gerard sighed. “Let me explain?”

***

_Gerard can remember running. Driving himself forward, ignoring the stitch in his side, ignoring the rain hammering down to the streets around him. He knows he’s already lost. They were fast enough to have caught him by now; they were doing this purely for the thrill. Playing with their food before they eat it. Gerard can barely stand to think the name: Vampire. Scum._

_Frank is ever so slightly ahead of him, the bright flashes of red from his hair the only ounce of colour in the darkened streets. Frank’s keeping a steady pace, but Gerard knows how tired he must be – how tired he himself is. They can’t keep this pace for much longer, and they’ll tire long before the one’s chasing them do. Frank’s eyes are flitting from side to side, scanning the streets for an escape route, and Gerard knows that Frank is as aware of this as he is._

_Gerard can’t hear any footsteps besides their own, but he knows that they’re still being followed. Has known since he first sensed the eyes on him in the bar, since he made a move to leave and the shapes that he’d thought at first were shadows moved with him. He also knows that the eyes were on him, and that if anything happens to Frank, he’ll be to blame._

_“Here!” Frank shouts, veering sharply to the left down a narrow side street, into an alleyway. They can’t outrun them, but they might be able to lose them, if they’re in luck._

_They aren’t. The alleyway leads to a dead end, and Gerard stops in his tracks, his stomach bottoming out as the last hope he had of escaping is vanquished. There’s no way out; not this time._

_Frank is still facing the wall at the end of the alley, his eyes screwed up tight, and Gerard knows he’s thinking of Jamia, waiting at home with the baby, praying that her husband will come back with food – praying that he’ll come back at all. Gerard is almost glad that he has no-one, that he’ll be leaving no-one behind. Almost._

_Gerard’s hand finds Frank’s and grips it tightly. “Elena will look after them,” he whispers. Frank looks at Gerard, and his eyes show no sadness, only anger, and Gerard knows who it’s directed at, and it isn’t him. Frank nods and squeezes back, and they turn around together, their hands still clasped. Gerard is afraid to let go._

_There are two of them, standing at the head of the alleyway. One of them steps forward, clearly the more dominant of the two. Gerard notes with disgust with greasy hair, below shoulder length, the grubby beard, the dark eyes. Black with hunger._

_“Two little humans,” he taunts, “Lost in the rain. Never to be seen again.” His words refer to both of them, but his eyes are locked on Gerard’s. He tries to look away, but finds himself unable to._

_“Here’s how it’s gonna work,” the vampire continues, his teeth bared, fangs large and grotesque, “You get a choice. Be turned or be drained.”_

_Gerard’s mouth is dry, and his palms sweaty. He doesn’t want to die, but he sure as hell doesn’t want to be turned either._

_“Fucking go to hell,” Frank spits, and of course, Frank would retain his contempt and anger even in a situation like this. Gerard can’t feel anything except fear._

_“Is that a no?” The long haired vampire asks, almost sweetly. He looks to Frank for the first time, and Gerard feels as though an invisible weight has been lifted from his chest. He staggers slightly, and feels the eyes of the other vampire on him, appraising._

_“Bert,” he sighs._

_The long haired vampire, Bert, apparently, scowls at his companion before turning back to Gerard. Immediately, Gerard feels it again, something pressing against his chest, disabling his movement._

_“Let me have my fun, Dan,” he replies, “I like this one.”_

_Gerard goes cold at those words, and he hears Frank snarl, “Leave him alone!”_

_“You’ve made your decision clear,” Bert says, and with a click of his fingers, the other vampire, Dan, has Frank struggling in his arms. Bert turns back to Gerard._

_“What about you?” he asks, his voice quiet and soft. “Do you have any objections?”_

_Gerard opens his mouth, because hell fucking yes he has fucking objections – but discovers with horror that he can’t speak. No sound will come out of his mouth. He tries to back away, but he can’t do that, either. He stands there, completely defenceless, as Frank looks on in horror._

_“What have you done to him?”_

_“You’d be surprised at our power over your weak human minds when we’re hungry,” Bert is smirking, and Gerard realises with terror that he knows where this is heading, and there’s no getting out of it._

_Gerard stands, unable to move, as Bert and Dan turn to Frank, and sink their teeth into his throat. He watches as his best friend cries out, in anger, in pain, in terror. Watches as the life drains out of him, as he slumps to the floor, as cold and still as Gerard’s heart feels. Tears run freely down his face as the two vampires turn back to him. Blood is trickling out of the side of Bert’s mouth, Frank’s blood, and he’s smiling as he looks at Gerard._

_Gerard closes his eyes._

***

When Gerard had finished talking, there were tears on his face. He didn’t bother wiping them away, just stared at the floor dejectedly, his hands trembling in his lap.

Frank took a shuddery breath, unsure of what to do. Then Gerard raised his head to look at Frank, and his expression held such misery that Frank couldn’t help scooting over on the couch, wrapping his arms around Gerard and pulling him into a hug. Gerard’s arms snaked around Frank’s waist, and he held on tight, as if afraid to let go.

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” Frank whispered. “I’m still mad as hell that you didn’t tell me, but. I’m sorry it happened.”

Gerard’s voice was tiny. “I – I had to stand there… I couldn’t do anything. I – I wished I could have died to, I wished I could have helped him. I couldn’t do anything.” His breathing hitched. “I was so much weaker than him.”

“Shh, Gee.” Frank’s hand found Gerard’s hair, and he stroked it gently. “It happened. It wasn’t your fault, it was them, they had you controlled. You can’t change it, there’s no point getting upset now.”

Gerard nodded, his face buried in Frank’s neck.

“Bert did this.” Frank stated, after a pause. “Bert did this to you. He, he killed –” Frank couldn’t finish the sentence. His voice was low and harsh. “I’m going to kill him.”

Gerard raised his head to look at Frank. His eyes were red. “You can’t,” he whispered, “he’s stronger than you. He’s stronger than me. If you tried to… do anything, report him, go after him, he’d kill you. With no remorse. He’s done it before,” he added bitterly. “I – I’m scared of him, Frank.”

Frank paused, waiting.

“I know I don’t act like it,” Gerard continued, “but inside – I’m terrified. He’s my maker. It’s in my nature to be scared of him.”

Frank laughed dryly, “Aren’t you sort of going against your nature by being here?” He waved his arm between them, at Gerard’s arms still around Frank’s waist, and Gerard’s face, inches from his own.

“No,” Gerard murmured, “No, this is completely natural.”

A small smile spread across Frank’s face. He brushed his thumbs over Gerard’s cheeks, spreading out the tear tracks. “I’m still mad. You had no right to keep that from me, not when it involved my family.” Gerard nodded, his eyes lowering. “Hey, look at me,” Frank brushed his thumb over Gerard’s cheek again. “I understand why you didn’t want to tell me, okay? I’m mad, but I understand.”

Gerard nodded, leaning in again and resting his head on Frank’s shoulder. “M’sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“I know, shh,” Frank said, kissing the side of Gerard’s head. They sat like that, Frank’s hand still in Gerard’s hair, until Gerard’s breaths evened out and Frank was sure the tears had stopped. He’d never seen a vampire cry before.

“You need to go now,” he said gently. Gerard looked up at him sharply. “Because,” Frank continued, smiling slightly, “I have to go to the hospital, make sure Quinn is okay… update Mikey, and you can’t come with me.”

Relief flickered in Gerard’s eyes, and he smiled too, “I don’t think they’d welcome me in a human hospital, no.”

At the door, Gerard paused, looking back at Frank. “I am sorry,” he said again, “I never wanted make you mad, or upset.”

“I know,” Frank said. He did know. “Just, give me a few days to digest things, and then everything will be back to normal.”

Gerard chuckled, and it almost sounded genuine, “Normal for us, anyway.”

That much was true, Frank thought, watching Gerard disappear into the night. Normal was one thing his life was not.

*

The following day was a Saturday, and for that Frank was relieved. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Gerard, exactly. He wasn’t avoiding him. He’d just had to digest a lot of information the previous evening, and he wanted some time alone to… deal with it. Apart from the revelation about his great-grandfather, there was the issue with Quinn… and Bert.

Frank stayed home for most of the day. Now that he had enough money to keep the electricity and water running, being in the house didn’t bother him as much as it used to. Mikey was going to meet him to go to _The Drummer Boy_ that evening though. They had a lot to talk about.

By the time Frank had reached the hospital the night before, Mikey had everything under control. Quinn had been set up with a blood transfusion before any permanent damage had been done, however, the Doctor had warned Mikey that he’d had a very lucky escape. Frank was now certain that if Gerard hadn’t interrupted Bert, Quinn would have died.

Bert. Frank had briefly told Mikey what Gerard had revealed to him, but thought it would be best if he heard the full story from Gerard himself. Gerard would be waiting at Mikey’s house, he was sure, so told Mikey he’d discuss everything with him the following day. Frank’s anger at Gerard had faded now, he thought; mostly, he was just left with a resounding hatred for Bert McCracken. Bert had murdered his ancestor, made Gerard’s life miserable for years, almost killed one of his closest friends… Yes. Frank found himself unable to think of the long-haired vampire without his stomach clenching.

When Mikey finally arrived at Frank’s house, his expression was grim. 

“Are you planning on ending things with my brother?” he asked, once Frank had opened the door.

Frank blinked. “Where did that come from?” Mikey raised an eyebrow, and Frank hastened to add, “of course not. Why would you think that?”

“Gee seems to be under the impression that keeping his past from you was unforgivable. He’s certain that next time you see him you’re going to break up with him, and quit.”

Frank almost laughed, except, Mikey look serious. “Mikey, come on, that’s ridiculous. Yeah, I was mad at him, but it was one fight. I’ll be over it by the next time I see him.”

“You didn’t come over today, when you must have known he’d be there.”

Frank rolled his eyes, “Excuse me for wanting a bit of space. How did he get from that that I want to end things?”

Mikey’s expression was still flat. “Mikey, I promise, I have no intention of breaking up with your brother.” Ever, a voice in his head added, but he chose not to voice that.

Mikey held Frank’s gaze for a few more seconds, then relaxed. “I know – I knew that. I just… I worry about him. He’s never been in a relationship before, and… I just don’t want him to get hurt. Either of you. I don’t want either of you to get hurt.”

Frank started in surprise. “He’s – never been a relationship before?”

Mikey shook his head, “Not since he was turned, he told me last night. He – he doesn’t understand how it all works Frank. He’s terrified that he’s going to lose you.”

Guilt started to form, hard and fast, in Frank’s stomach. He knew that he was justified in wanting some space, to think through everything that had been unloaded on him – but he hated the thought that he’d caused Gerard any pain by not going to see him. Which was ridiculous; it had been one day, and Frank thought he’d been clear the previous night that things between them were going to be okay, but. That obviously wasn’t how Gerard’s mind worked.

Frank sighed. “Look, I’ll find him tomorrow and talk to him about it.”

Mikey nodded, bumping Frank’s shoulder with his own. They were fast approaching _The Drummer Boy_ , and Mikey slowed his steps, stopping short of the entrance.

“Are you okay?” he asked seriously. “What with your great-grandfather, and Bert, and. It’s a lot to digest.”

Frank sighed. Was he okay?

“I think I am,” he answered slowly. “I mean, yeah, I wish Gerard had told me before, of course I do. But – you should have seen him last night, Mikes. He was a mess.”

“I did,” Mikey said grimly, “he came to me afterwards. And I know he was wrong, he should have told you, but –”

“I’m more worried about Bert,” Frank interrupted, his eyebrows drawing together. “I – it’s not right, Mikes, that after everything he’s done, he’s walking around, causing more trouble. Feeding on more humans.”

“Quinn’s still in the hospital,” Mikey said quietly, “Jeph went to see him today. Apparently he can’t remember anything from last night.”

“Not even being fed on?”

“He has no memory of Bert, and none of Gerard, thankfully. The last thing he remembers is coming to meet us, and then waking up in the hospital this morning. He doesn’t even remember me taking him there.”

Frank frowned. “I don’t understand. Why can’t he remember?”

“The Doctors believe it means he was close to enthrallment,” Mikey sighed. He rubbed a hand over his left eye, and Frank realised just how tired he looked. “We don’t know how long Bert’s been feeding on Quinn for, but if he does it again… that could be it.”

“That’s exactly why we have to stop him!” Frank exploded. “Why can’t anyone else see it? Dealing with Bert would solve so many of our problems!”

“And how exactly do you propose we ‘deal’ with Bert?” Mikey asked, cynical. “We certainly can’t do anything, we’re humans! And Gee’s too scared to report him, he thinks Bert will come after him. Or you.”

“At least he doesn’t know who you are, MikeyWay,” Frank said, smiling wanly. He slung an arm over Mikey’s shoulder and pushed them both towards the bar’s entrance, “You’re safe.”

*

Frank was starting to realise why Patrick had felt the need to pick Pete over his human life. At the time, that had made no sense to Frank; why choose? But sat in _The Drummer Boy_ for the first time in over a week, Frank felt… off.

It had started with Ray talking about people Frank didn’t know. That had made him start; he hadn’t been away that long, had he? But apparently he had, and now there was a guy and a girl sitting at their table that Frank didn’t recognise. Even Mikey seemed to know them, and what the fuck, he knew Gerard too, yet he seemed to be balancing the two worlds without trouble. It was beginning to hit Frank that he’d been occupied with Gerard over the last few weeks to the extent of neglecting his old life.

It only got worse when Jepha arrived, causing a loud reminiscence of a night at the bar that Frank hadn’t been invited to. Jepha sat down next to Frank, and clasped his shoulder tightly, his expression becoming serious.

“Mikey says you helped him get Quinn to the hospital yesterday,” he said quietly, “Lord knows how the two of you managed to get him away from the vampire scum – but thanks, Frankie.”

Frank smiled tightly, “I’m just glad he’s okay,” he murmured back. He really didn’t want to get into a discussion about vampires.

“We’ve missed you, Frankie!” Ray put in, leaning across the table towards Frank, who tried to compress the feeling of guilt growing in his stomach. “Where’ve you been this past week?”

Frank shrugged uneasily. “Just busy, I guess. Work and shit.”

“The vampire’s not working you too hard, is he?” Jepha said, his lip curling in disgust.

“No, no,” Frank said quickly. Jepha gave him a strange look, and Frank added, “Well, I do have a lot of stuff to do. He’s the most disorganised person ever, and I’ve been sorting through backlogs of filing.” That was true, at least, so Frank didn’t feel like he was lying. Mostly.

Ray sat back, his gaze almost speculative. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you sounded fond. Of the vampire.”

Frank snorted uneasily, feeling his palms starting to sweat, and trying desperately to avoid Mikey’s gaze. “Well it’s a good job you do know me, then. But, what can I say? The job pays my bills. He doesn’t beat me. He isn’t cruel. He’s – ” Frank stopped. He’d been about to say a good man, but he knew that wouldn’t go down well. “He’s not as bad as I thought he’d be when I got the job.”

Frank could feel Ray’s gaze piercing through him, as if he knew Frank was keeping something from them, and was trying to see what it was. After a pause, Andy snorted.

“Frank’s whipped.”

Frank stood up abruptly. “Um, I need to go. I’ll see you all later.” 

He could feel Mikey’s eyes on his back, but he didn’t say anything else as he walked away. Ray and Jepha were calling after him, apologising, and other voices, less familiar ones, were laughing. Frank closed his eyes. He felt out of place among his friends, the few people whom he’d once felt he could be himself around. Was that how it was going to be from now on? Either be with Gerard, or be with his friends… but not with both?

Frank didn’t know if he could deal with that.

*

“Frank, wait!”

Frank had no intention of waiting at all, but Mikey’s hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

“What?” he sounded. His voice came out tired and worn. “I just want to go home, Mikey.”

“Come back to mine,” Mikey said. His eyes were sad. “I know you’re pissed, and probably want to be alone, but come back to mine so I can talk you out of whatever dumbass idea is forming in your brain. I know you, Frank.”

A laugh was startled out of Frank, and he allowed Mikey to steer him across the street, towards the turning that led back to Mikey’s.

“I’m forming no plan!” he protested.

One of Mikey’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “No? So you aren’t thinking about whether or not you’ll be able to see my brother and stay in with the guys? No thoughts about Patrick, choosing one or the other?”

Frank paused. “Sometimes, you’re just plain freaky, MikeyWay.”

Mikey smiled. “Nah, I just know you well.”

They were on Mikey’s ground now, nearing the place where Bert had attacked Quinn the night before. Frank shuddered, and tried not to look at the dried blood that nobody had cleaned off the grass.

“Those aren’t your two options, Frankie,” Mikey was saying gently, “it isn’t Gee or the guys. You can have both, you just have to… go about it in a healthier way. You know you, you get very into things, and –”

“Mikey,” Frank interrupted. “There’s someone standing outside your house.”

Mikey fell silent and stopped walking abruptly, and Frank peered at the figure he could see, standing on the porch outside Mikey’s front door.

“Is that – Gerard?” Mikey asked uncertainly.

Frank looked again, and then stumbled back, his hand shooting out to clasp Mikey’s wrist. 

“No,” he whispered. “No, it isn’t.”

Still holding onto Mikey, Frank turn around, ready to run, but vampires were faster than humans, and Frank had barely taken a step before the figure had moved to standing in front of them. Ten metres in less than a second. Frank gulped, and gripped Mikey’s wrist tighter.

“What do you want?” he asked, hating how his voice came out shaky and weak.

Bert smiled, his long hair covering his face like a greasy veil.

“That’s no way to greet a friend, Frankie,” he tsked, pouting over exaggeratedly, before turning his gaze to Mikey. “I was actually hoping to be introduced to your friend here. Mikey, I think I heard Gerard say?”

His voice was dripping with venom, and Frank started to back away, pulling Mikey with him, who appeared to have frozen in place. Bert must have been listening well the previous night to have picked up Mikey’s name.

“Because, well, I know I’m not the best example of the perfect citizen,” Bert said, in that same, sweet voice that was making Frank’s insides churn in fear. “But our friend Gee Way, on the other hand, he likes to think that he is. And I was just thinking about how fucking hypocritical it is, for him to be preaching to me about feeding on your blonde friend, while he himself has two thralls to feed on. Wouldn’t you agree, Frankie? Mikey?”

Frank’s heart stopped as he realised how Bert had interpreted Gerard coming out of Mikey’s house with two humans close behind, how wrong he was. Mikey’s face was a mask of fear, and Frank remembered suddenly that the only vampire Mikey had ever come into contact with was Gerard, and Bert was about as opposite from Gerard as you could get. He slipped his hand from Mikey’s wrist into his grasp, squeezing tightly.

“No, you’ve got it wrong –” Frank started to say, but Bert spoke over him.

“So, obviously, the way to deal with this situation is simply to – kill one of you.” Bert spoke offhandedly, as if the thought of ending someone’s life was normal for a Saturday evening; which it might well be, Frank thought. His pulse started to pick up, and he opened his mouth to protest, but Bert was talking again.

“The real question is,” Bert was clearly enjoying himself, his voice getting quieter, sweeter and deadlier, “who’s it gonna be?”

Bert locked eyes with Frank, and stepped closer, and Frank had time to be glad that Mikey was going to be okay, and close his eyes, and he was going to die, just like his great-grandfather, and wasn’t that ironic, and – Bert shoved him to the side, and Frank’s feet left the floor as the side of his head hit the ground hard. His vision blurred, and he could taste blood in his mouth, but he managed to look up at Bert in confusion.

Bert was smiling.

“Fortunately for you, Frankie,” he said, “I’ve grown rather attached to you.” And with that, he turned to Mikey, and with a snarl, sank his teeth into Mikey’s neck.

“No!” Frank’s voice came out as a shriek, and he stumbled to his feet, willing his vision to straighten out, and, “No, no no no!” He lunged at Bert, hitting him full force and making him stumble, and pushing Mikey out of the way. Mikey dropped to the floor, a hand clutching his neck, staring at Frank and Bert in horror.

Bert snarled again, his teeth bore viciously, and Frank was taken back to Mikey’s kitchen, and his first meeting with Gerard. He fought the urge to laugh. 

“No, leave Mikey alone,” Frank panted, “Just – just leave him alone, and take me, you can have me, do whatever you want with me, but please don’t hurt him, please – just – ” Frank knew he was babbling, but couldn’t seem to make himself stop. Bert raised an eyebrow, considering.

“Whatever I want?” he asked, and Frank knew then that this was the only way to keep Mikey safe.

“Frankie,” Mikey said weakly, his voice pleading, protesting, but Frank nodded anyway, trying to keep his face expressionless.

“Yeah, yes, whatever. Just, don’t hurt him.”

Bert paused, and the only sound Frank could hear was the beating of his heart, loud and arrhythmic. Then Bert smiled, and it was not a nice smile.

“You’re going to be sorry you did that,” he whispered, his voice gleeful, and that was the last thing Frank remembered before his head came into contact with something hard, and everything went dark.

***

Night had fallen before Gerard had started making his way to Mikey’s house. If he was honest, he didn’t want to go at all. But Mikey had said that he’d try and get Frank there, and all Gerard wanted to do was talk to Frank and make sure that he was okay, that they were okay.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t believed Frank the previous night, when he had said that everything would go back to normal soon. But after a night alone, thinking about how Gerard had lied to him, kept things from him… Gerard was sure Frank would have changed his mind by now. As Mikey’s house came into view, his stomach clenched tighter, sure that Frank wasn’t going to be there, that he’d have to face the fact that he’d fucked up big time.

Nothing could prepare him for what he actually found when he opened the door.

Mikey was sat on the centre of the couch in the front room, his head rested on his knees. But he wasn’t alone. Stood around him, resting on the couch arm, were two strangers, two human strangers. Gerard froze at the doorway, staring at them, and they stared back, their eyes distrustful, suspicious… yet not surprised, not shocked. Then Mikey looked up, and Gerard saw the blood on his neck.

He stood stock still, half of him wanting to run to Mikey, hug him, demand to know what had happened – the other half wanting to flee before more humans arrived and chased him out.

“Wha - ?” he managed.

Then Mikey whispered, “Please, Gee. Stay,” and his voice sounded so small and broken, that before Gerard could think, he was crossing the room, and pulling Mikey towards him into a hug. Mikey wrapped his arms around Gerard, holding on so tight it almost hurt, and Gerard could feel his body shaking. 

The two humans backed away, giving Gerard a clear berth, but they didn’t run away, didn’t scream in terror or anger or disgust. Mikey had obviously forewarned them of his arrival. 

“Mikey,” Gerard’s voice was quiet but urgent, “What the fuck happened? Who hurt you? Why – why are they here?” He looked back up at the humans mistrustfully. One of them, a tall male with large, frizzy hair, was staring back at him with a strange look in his eyes that Gerard couldn’t interpret. The other, shorter one looked plain scared, his fingers twitching as if he wanted to pull Mikey out of Gerard’s embrace.

Mikey’s voice was almost silent when he answered, “Bert.”

Gerard had heard of the expression “blood seeming to freeze,” but he had never experienced it before that moment. Ice spread throughout his body, stretching from his fingers all the way to his toes, and his heart almost seemed to stutter in his chest.

“Bert did this? Bert hurt you?” His breaths were coming faster; he was finding it hard to think straight. “I – how did he – what…” Gerard trailed off, as he pieced together the broken look on Mikey’s face with the presence of the two other humans.

“Where’s Frank?” His voice rang out strangely loud in the otherwise silent room, echoing off the walls and reverberating in Gerard’s chest. Mikey stayed silent, his head buried in Gerard’s neck. The shorter human flinched and looked away, and it was the one with the big hair who answered, softly.

“Bert took him.”

A wave of nausea passed through Gerard, so violent that he was sure he was actually going to throw up. 

The human’s voice was soft as he continued. “We weren’t there, but Mikey came and found us afterwards. He – he told us about you.”

Mikey raised his head, and met Gerard’s gaze, “I – I’m sorry, I know you didn’t want me to tell anyone about you, but I was freaking out, and I knew you wouldn’t be here till later, and I needed to tell someone –”

“Mikes, hush, you’re babbling,” Gerard said gently, “That’s – that’s not really the issue at hand here.” His ears were ringing, causing his voice to sound distant, as if he were standing on the peripheral of the conversation. “Bert – Bert took him? Where? Why?”

Dizziness followed the nausea, and Gerard thought for a second that he was going to pass out. He certainly wanted to; to collapse into a ball and hide from the world, until someone told him that it was all a joke, that of course Frank was safe. It was all a misunderstanding. But nobody said a word. He stood up, abruptly, and the humans backed away.

“We have to get him back.” His voice was hard, determined.

Mikey peered up at Gerard from his position on the couch, “He said he was going to kill him,” he whispered.

No. No no no.

“No,” Gerard whispered, “No, he – he can’t, he wouldn’t.” He would. “I – we’ll stop him, Mikes, we’ll get him back.”

“Gerard –”

“No!” Gerard snapped. Mikey fell silent, and the two humans both tensed.

Then Mikey sighed, and dropped his head into his hands. “It’s all my fault, Gee,” he said, quietly, “Bert – he wanted to kill me, he was going to – to take me, but then Frank, Frank jumped in the way and he made Bert take him in-instead, and now Frank’s going to die and it’s all my fault –”

“Mikey,” Gerard knelt down beside the couch, in front of Mikey, “Hey, look at me.” Mikey’s eyes were wet when he looked up, and Gerard had never, ever seen him cry before. “This is not your fault okay? None of this is your fault. We’re – I’m going to get him back. I’ll go and find Bert, and I’ll get Frank back, and I swear to God, I’m gonna kill the bastard, okay?”

“Okay,” Mikey whispered, and Gerard pulled him into another hug.

“Okay?” Gerard raised his voice, twisting his head to stare at the humans.

“O-okay,” the human with the big hair stammered, “I – uh, we want to help. Me and Jeph. That’s why we’re still here. He – Frankie’s one of our best friends. We want to do anything we can to help.”

Gerard stared at the human, something forming in his stomach akin to respect. “I – don’t really know what there is for you to do, but. Thanks.”

“That’s Ray, by the way,” Mikey said, smiling at the human, “he’s pretty awesome.”

Ray grinned at Mikey, and then turned his gaze back to Gerard, “I – I know you’re a vampire, and I’m not sure how I…I feel about that but. Frank. Getting Frank back is what’s important here.”

The dread was still heavy in Gerard’s stomach, but he nodded, climbing to his feet, pulling Mikey with him. “Okay, we need to act fast, we need to go now. Mikey, you should stay here, and –”

“What? No!” Mikey protested, “He’s my best friend, I’m helping!”

“You’re injured.”

“He barely touched me!”

“Mikes, please,” Gerard pleaded, “I don’t want you to get hurt too. Get hurt more, too.”

“You need me,” Mikey said firmly, “I’m the one with the contacts.”

“Contacts?” Gerard said, bemused.

Mikey smiled, “Did you really think I was going to let you go after Bert alone? I’ve already contacted Patrick, and he’s got Pete on it.” Judging by the lack of surprise from Ray and Jepha they’d already been filled in on the Patrick-Pete situation. Gerard was quite impressed with how they were handling everything. 

“Patrick’s got Pete on what?”

Mikey smiled, but this time, it was hard. Gerard shivered. “This is going to be a serious fucking rescue mission.”

For the first time since he’d entered Mikey’s house that night, Gerard smiled too.

***

In the comic books Frank’s grandfather used to read him, after someone was kidnapped they would gain consciousness slowly. They would be bleary eyed, confused, and it would take a while for them to remember what had happened. The villain would be waiting for them. And soon after this, the superhero would swoop in and save them, anyway.

This wasn’t like that.

Frank had been sat in the dark for hours, alone. He wasn’t tired to a chair, or strapped to some sort of machinery, just sat, alone, in the darkness. At first Frank had stumbled about, trying to find a way out, but of course, the only door he could feel was locked. And Frank had no idea what else was in the room with him. Or where the room was.

Frank was scared.

The only sounds he could hear were his own heartbeat and breathing. No footsteps. No noises at all. Frank would have thought that Bert was just going to leave him here until he starved – but that wasn’t like Bert. No, if Bert was going to kill him; which was looking more and more likely with every minute of no rescue, then he would do it properly. With style. The question wasn’t if, but when.

Frank was almost not expecting it when the room finally flooded with light. The door Frank had tried to open hours previously swinging wide, revealing a silhouetted figure. Frank startled, and his eyes shut automatically as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light, but he didn’t need sight to know who was standing at the door. Or to know what the expression on his face would be a deadly smirk.

“Frank Iero.” Bert’s voice was soft, as Frank knew it would be. A light flickered on, and the room was bathed in light. A sparse, square room; the only objects in the room being an old, wooden desk in the opposite corner of the room to the one where Frank was sat, cowering. He glimpsed a set of stairs through the door before Bert shut it: he was in the basement, then. That was quite cliché, Frank supposed. But then again, this whole damn thing was one big cliché. Kidnapped by a vampire, kept in his basement. Frank would laugh, but terror had clogged had clogged up his throat.

“Bert,” Frank answered, trying to keep his voice even and strong; made difficult by the fact that he was curled up in the corner of the basement, arms around his knees, while Bert stood over him, but still. If this was going to be the end, then Frank wanted to go out like his great-grandfather had. Staying true to who he was.

“Looks like your boyfriend isn’t coming to rescue you anytime soon.” 

Frank looked up sharply. Bert was smiling widely, and, seeing Frank’s gaze on him, reached into his pocket and retrieved Frank’s necklace. He dangled it in front of him tauntingly.

“I always thought something wasn’t right about you.” Frank hated how soft Bert’s voice was. It would be so much less terrifying if Bert was angry, shouting. That Frank could deal with. This sickly sweetness, however, was pushing Frank into panicking. “I should have known, really. How very Gerard. Falling in love with a human.”

Frank couldn’t help but flinch away from the word; not that he didn’t know it of his own feelings, but if the same was true of Gerard, Frank wanted to hear it from him, not Bert. Not that there was much chance of him getting the chance to say it. Frank shoved his hands into his pockets, not wanting Bert to see how much they were shaking.

“Why do you hate him so much?” Frank whispered. “This isn’t about me at all, is it? This is about Gerard.” His voice rose slightly. “You’re the one who turned him. You ruined everything for him. What did he ever do to you?”

The smile slid off Bert’s face, and he scowled, deep and ugly. Striding forward, he pulled Frank to his feet and pushed him against the wall, leaning in close.

“There are so many different ways I could kill you,” Bert murmured, his face inches from Frank’s. His breath was rank, and Frank tried to lean away, screwing his eyes tightly shut. “I’ve been thinking it over for hours. What to do? Kill you now and dump your body? Leave it somewhere for him to find? Or wait until he finally decides to show up, and do it then?” Frank’s eyes opened at that, and Bert’s lip curled up unpleasantly. “I quite like that last one. Dramatic. Theatrical.”

“Please.” Frank didn’t know what he was begging for, words flowing out of his mouth automatically. “Please, don’t do this, I –”

“Whatever I want to do, remember,” Bert said, the smug laugh overpowering his tone. “And – speaking of. All of this excitement has left me rather… hungry.”

A whimper escaped Frank’s mouth as Bert leaned in closer. He tried to raise his arms, kick his legs – do anything, really, to get himself out of this situation, but found that he couldn’t move. And when he tried to open his mouth again, no sound would come out. He was left, completely unable to defend himself, as Bert lowered his mouth to Frank’s neck, and sunk his teeth into his skin.

Frank wasn’t sure whether or not he was glad that he couldn’t scream.

***

“Are you sure you’re willing to do this?” 

“Shut up, Gerard.”

“It’s going to be okay. Frank will be fine.”

“I hope you’re right.”

***

“Please – please, I don’t want – ”

“Shut the fuck up. It wouldn’t take much for me to drain you right now.”

“Bert, please – ”

“Shut the fuck up, before I make you myself.”

***

“Mikey, you’re staying outside.”

“Gerard – ”

“I’m serious, this time. No humans passed this point.”

“But – ”

“Dude, listen to your brother. He can’t keep Frank safe if he’s looking out for you at the same time.”

“…Bring him back, Gee, okay?”

“I will.”

***

A loud noise from upstairs startled Frank from his position on the floor of the basement. Blood from the wound on his neck had run down, soaking into his shirt and making him look like a war victim. Bert stood over him, not even bothering to wipe Frank’s blood away from his mouth. His head snapped up towards the ceiling, and then he looked back down at Frank, smirking.

“Looks like your boyfriend’s finally decided to join us.” He hauled Frank to his feet, and leaned in close, whispering, “took him long enough.”

Frank felt intoxicated; his head heavy and his legs weak, and as Bert loosened his grip on Frank’s shirt, he realised he couldn’t stand up without support. He stumbled, his back hitting the wall, and his vision swam before him. Bert pulled Frank forward by the collar of his shirt, and held him upright, and they both turned their eyes towards the door of the basement.

There were a few moments of tense silence, Frank’s head pounding with the effort to stay upright, before the pounding of approaching footsteps filled the room, and the door burst open. Gerard stood there, panting, his eyes searching until they locked with Frank’s. He was the most beautiful thing Frank had ever seen.

“Gee,” Frank whispered, and he was surprised to hear how weak his voice was.

Gerard paled fast, his hand gripping the doorframe as if it were the only thing keeping him standing. His knuckles were white. Frank knew he must look awful, with blood stained clothes, but Gerard looked horrified. Bert’s grip tightened on Frank’s shoulder, and he let out an involuntary whimper. Gerard flinched, his eyes never leaving Frank’s.

“Hello there, Gerard.” Bert’s voice was sickly, his breath brushing Frank’s ear, and Frank had a moment to think No! before Bert’s teeth were back against his neck, and the world swam before Frank, and everything went dark.

***

Frank’s body slacked in Bert’s hands, and Gerard’s heart constricted with terror. 

“Stop it!” He moved forward into the basement, and Bert looked up, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. Frank’s blood. Suddenly Gerard was back in the alley, all those years ago, watching the blood drip down Bert’s chin. This couldn’t be happening again. Anger swirled in Gerard’s stomach, lost amongst the fear. He hoped Pete and Brendon had stayed upstairs – this was something he needed to do alone.

“Stop what, Gerard?” Gerard wanted Bert to shout, to get angry, not to regard him calmly over the unmoving body of his – of Frank. Of his everything.

“Please, just let him go.”

Bert laughed. “We both know that’s not going to happen, don’t we?”

Gerard couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d felt this scared before, ever. Not since he was turned.

“I don’t have to kill him, you know.” Bert spoke as if they were having a normal conversation. Frank’s head dropped forward, hanging over his shoulder blades. The blood from his neck had seeped onto his shirt, and there was so much of it. “I was planning to, but I don’t have to. I could always, say, turn him, instead?”

Gerard could almost feel the blood leaving his face, because – no. Frank may be fine with Gerard being a vampire, but – he would hate that. Being turned. It would kill him.

“Think about it, Gerard,” Bert said, that constant smirk never leaving his face. “You could be together forever.” He paused. “Or, I could always kill him.”

“Stop it,” Gerard whispered, “Just stop it. If you want to make me suffer, then make me suffer. Please, leave him alone.”

Bert laughed, and this time, it was cold. He let go of Frank, who dropped to the floor, lifeless. “Oh, but I am, Gerard,” he said. “This is making you suffer. In the best possible way.”

Gerard could feel his eyes starting to sting, and he closed them, refusing to let himself cry in front of Bert.

“I’m sorry.” Gerard spoke quietly, but his voice was strong and even. “Bert, I – I’m sorry, I’m sorry I didn’t – ”

“No.” Bert’s voice was harsh, “No, you don’t get to apologise to me.” The pure hate in his eyes made Gerard shudder, and for a moment he thought Bert was going to lunge at him – but then Bert sighed heavily, and turned away, his hand running through his hair, and Gerard took his chance. 

He leapt forward, dropping to his knees in front of Frank, and pulling Frank’s head onto his lap. There was blood, lots of blood, but Gerard was hardly aware of it, his palm brushing over Frank’s cheek gently. Frank’s eyelids flickered, and Gerard sagged with relief; he was alive, he wasn’t under too deep. Bert snarled from above him, but Gerard kept his attention focused on Frank, and it was only when he heard the distinctive sound of splintering wood that his head snapped upwards.

The next few seconds flashed in front of Gerard’s eyes like a slideshow of images.

Bert, face screwed up with hate, pulling on one of the legs of the old, wooden desk in the corner of the room. Bert, advancing towards him, leg in hand. Stake in hand. No time to move; no time to even close his eyes.

Pete, flying into the room, tackling Bert to the floor. Brendon, following him, wrestling the leg out of Bert’s grip and flinging it across the room.

Gerard stood up shakily. Pete pulled Bert to his feet, and Brendon grabbed his other arm; Bert snarling between them, struggling, even as he realised that he was sorely outnumbered.

“Bet you’re glad we didn’t listen to you and stay upstairs now, huh, Gee?” Brendon’s face was white, and his eyes were jumpy and scared, but he was here, they were both still here. Bert’s hand clenched into fists, but he stopped struggling, now staring right into Gerard’s eyes. If looks could kill.

“You – you were going to kill me,” Gerard sounded shaky as he met Bert’s gaze. “You were actually going to kill me.” The shock was clear in his voice, though he tried to suppress it. He’d never thought Bert would actually…

“My life would be better off without you in it.” Bert was trembling, his nose and eyes scrunched up as he glared at Gerard.

Pete snorted. “All of our lives would be better off without you in it,” he muttered. Bert snarled.

Gerard stepped forward, until he was facing Bert. “You shouldn’t have gone after Frank and Mikey,” he said quietly. “Why couldn’t – why couldn’t you just leave me alone? I don’t understand…”

“You understand perfectly.” Bert retorted, his eyes never leaving Gerard’s.

“What are we going to do with him?” Pete asked. He eyes found the desk leg, still on the floor, and then met Gerard’s. “You could kill him.”

The words resounded in Gerard’s ears long after the silence had fallen. Brendon’s eyes widened, but Pete looked grim and certain.

“He would do it to you, Gerard. He was going to.”

Gerard hesitated, his eyes fixed on Bert’s, who was no longer glaring, just staring back at him. And then he looked to Frank, still unconscious, small and wounded on the floor. The blood had soaked into his shirt, and Gerard could smell it, could feel it calling to him. But that didn’t matter. This was Frank. He shook his head.

“No,” he said. “No, take him to the Council. Report him for taking multiple thralls. Get him locked up. But I’m not going to kill him.”

Bert’s expression changed, and he laughed, coldly. “You always were a coward, Gerard.” His voice was dripping with venom.

“I’m not a coward,” Gerard snapped back, “I’m just not you.”

“You’re sure about this, Gerard?” Pete asked, uncertainly. 

Gerard nodded, kneeling down to brush the hair off Frank’s forehead.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Do you mind taking him in? I need to get Mikey and his friends home, and then… I just need to make sure Frank’s okay.”

Pete nodded softly, “that’s fine.”

“And – thanks,” Gerard added. “I – seriously, I couldn’t have – thank you, both.”

Pete’s eyes were understanding, and Brendon smiled, his eyes fixed on Frank. “Clearly, we need to talk, after this is all done. We all need to talk,” he gestured to the ceiling to include the humans, and Gerard nodded. “But, Gee – it’s fine. Anytime.”

Gerard smiled back, and whispered, “thank you,” again, before turning his attention to Frank. He picked him up, feather light in his arms, and kissed Frank’s cheek softly. “It’s okay, Frankie,” his voice was barely audible, “I’m taking you home.”

***

As soon as Frank’s eyes opened, his body was seized with terror, and he sat up with a yelp. Bert – he was in the basement – and Bert was there – and there was blood – and –

Frank thought halted as he realised he was lying in his own bed, in his own room, alone. Now he was just confused. Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Frank froze – had – was Bert here, in his house?

And then Gerard appeared at the door to his bedroom, and Frank sagged with relief. He remembered now; Gerard bursting into the basement, and then Bert - he touched a hand to his neck to find it was heavily bandaged. Frank shuddered, and drew his hand away quickly.

Gerard was still stood at the doorway, his expression a mixture of intense relief and - something else. 

“You’re awake,” he whispered, but he still made no move into the room, and what the hell – Frank had just been kidnapped, and he wanted a hug, damn it. Gerard took a tentative step into the room, as is he could sense what Frank as thinking, but he still made no move forward. 

“Gee, I – ” Frank frowned, something tightening in his stomach. “What’s wrong? Are you – are you mad?”

Gerard’s expression shifted into one of pure shock, and the next second his arms were around Frank, too cautious for Frank’s liking, but still there. Frank sagged under Gerard’s grip and buried his head in his shoulder, his hands finding Gerard’s hair and the back of his shirt, and holding on tightly.

“Of course I’m not mad,” Gerard almost cooed, “Why would I ever be mad? Hush, it’s okay, you’re safe now.”

His hand had found the back of Frank’s neck, and was stroking it softly, and Frank almost wanted to cry, he was so overwhelmed with emotions. He wanted to stay like this forever. He didn’t though, pulling back enough that he could see Gerard’s face.

“What was wrong, then?” he asked, hesitantly.

Gerard said nothing, biting his lip and staring and into Frank’s eyes, before Frank huffed impatiently, and Gerard sighed. “I – This is all my fault, Frankie, I’m so sorry. If you hadn’t met me, then none of this – ”

“Stop right there,” Frank said firmly, “Seriously, don’t pull that “if you hadn’t met me” bullshit, okay? If you think for one second that I regret meeting you, then you obviously don’t know me at all.”

Gerard’s mouth was open now, as he stared at Frank. Frank drew in a breath and continued. “So, no apologising, okay? None of this is your fault, at all. In fact – I should be thanking you.” He lowered this voice to just about a whisper, “You saved my life, Gee.”

The corner of Gerard’s mouth pulled up slightly, although he tried to hide it. “You did,” Frank insisted, “You have nothing at all to apologise for.” He kissed the corner of Gerard’s mouth softly, and felt him finally relax into a smile. He kissed the same spot again, and this time Gerard turned to meet his mouth, and Frank felt him smile against his lips as the kiss deepened.

Despite it only having been a few days, Frank felt like it had been an age since he’d been with Gerard like this. His hands gripped Gerard’s arms almost desperately, afraid to let him go. Gerard seemed to feel the same, the hand resting at the small of Frank’s back keeping them pressed tightly together, and his other hand gripping the back of Frank’s neck, one finger stroking over the bandage there.

Frank’s dick was just starting to get interested when Gerard pulled away and dropped his gaze to his lap, mumbling, “wait, I…” and then falling silent. Frank inwardly sighed, his hands moving down Gerard’s arms to link with his fingers, waiting for Gerard to say whatever he needed to say.

“I didn’t kill Bert,” Gerard blurted out.

Frank blinked a few times, because, what? He didn’t understand the way Gerard was looking at him, as if he expected Frank to be disappointed or angry by this fact.

“Um, okay,” Frank said, hesitantly, not wanting to say the wrong thing. “What did you do to him?”

“Pete and Brendon took him to the Council,” Gerard all but mumbled, still refusing to meet Frank’s gaze. And – Pete and Brendon had been there? Frank was going to have to get the full story, but he sensed that that could wait for now. “They’re reporting him for, you know, taking more than one thrall.”

Frank waited, and when Gerard didn’t say anything else, he prompted, “So…?”

“So!” Gerard sounded almost anguished now, and Frank really was confused, “So, Pete wanted me to kill Bert, I think. And I didn’t, and at the time, I thought that was the right thing, but – but he was going to kill you! And me, if he could, and I’m a vampire! I’m supposed to be able to do these sorts of things, and I told Mikey that I’d do it, but then when it came to it, I couldn’t, and – ” His voice was rising in pitch with every sentence, and Frank interrupted quickly.

“Gee, calm down!” he said, raising his hands, still clutching Gerard’s, to his face. “Listen. I’m glad you’re not the type of vampire that kills whenever he can. That doesn’t make you cowardly, okay? Honestly, I’m pleased you didn’t kill him, just because you aren’t a killer, Gee. All that proves is that you’re better than he is, okay?” Frank put his hand under Gerard’s chin and pushed it up, forcing Gerard to meet his eyes. Gerard still looked uncertain, but his cheeks were red, and he was starting to smile. “You have to stop worrying about what I’ll think of whatever you do,” Frank said, his own smile spreading. “I’ll love you, anyway.”

Gerard’s expression froze in place. “I – _what_?” His voice came out as a squeak, and his eyes were getting wider and wider. Frank grinned, and leaned forward to kiss the tip of Gerard’s nose. “I said, I’ll love you anyway. Because, I love you. I don’t really know how that crept up on me, but I really fucking love you.”

Gerard’s mouth was open, and he was staring at Frank in utter shock. The silence stretched on long enough for Frank to start to worry, before Gerard beamed, actually beamed, and said, “I really fucking love you too,” in a voice that contained so much happiness, that Frank had to lean down and kiss him, this time on the mouth.

Gerard made a soft noise, a murmur in the back of his throat, and a hand slid up Frank’s back to twist through his hair. Frank pressed closer, eagerly, and was in the process of sliding his hands under Gerard’s shirt, intending to pull it off, when Gerard broke away.

“You’re hurt, Frankie,” he said, his eyes dancing with amusement, “Not now.”

“Gerard,” Frank whined, and Gerard smiled, bright and crooked, before kissing Frank’s forehead firmly and climbing to his feet.

“I’m serious,” he said, ignoring Frank’s pout and widened eyes. “No sex until you’re healthy again.”

Frank huffed and flung himself backwards onto the bed, wincing at the impact. Gerard raised an eyebrow as if this proved his point, which, whatever. 

Gerard knelt down beside the bed, resting his head on the covers next to Frank’s arm. “Sleep now,” he said, “You must be tired. And there’s a lot that needs to be discussed when you wake up.”

Frank hadn’t realised it until it was said aloud, but he was tired. Exhausted. He huffed again, though, for good measure, and Gerard smiled softly, and brushed a thumb under Frank’s eye.

“I love you, Frankie,” Gerard spoke quietly, his eyes twinkling. “I can’t believe I get to say that out loud.”

Frank couldn’t remember ever drifting off to sleep feeling happier.

*

*

*

“We have to go – Gerard! We’ll be late!”

Frank didn’t think he would ever get used to this. Waking up in a double bed, in Gerard’s apartment (Our apartment, Gerard’s voice corrected in his head), with no rush to get up, no worrying about bills or electricity or work. With Gerard next to him, sometimes sleeping, sometimes awake, watching him, and sometimes –

“So?” Gerard kissed his way up Frank’s neck, where he’d been busy working on what Frank was sure would be a huge ass hickey, to whisper in his ear, “I’m in charge, Frankie. I’m allowed to be late.”

Frank felt Gerard’s tongue touch his earlobe, and his breathing hitched, “Still – ah! – as your secretary, it would be very bad form to, to –”

“Your point being?” Gerard traced a hand down Frank’s bare chest, his mouth following, and Frank’s eyes fluttered closed as Gerard nuzzled his left nipple, his other hand travelling lower, dangerously close to his crotch.

“That – that you need to stop,” Frank managed.

“Do I?” Gerard asked, his eyes positively gleaming as he straddled Frank’s hips.

“Yes, you – _fuck_ ,” Frank bit his lip to stop himself from moaning as Gerard took Frank’s cock into his mouth, sinking all the way down to the base and back up, his tongue brushing over the head in a way that made Frank’s brain flat line. “No, no –I’ve changed my mind, don’t stop don’t stop _don’t stop_.”

Gerard hummed around Frank’s cock, his head bobbing in earnest, and Frank swore again, his back arching off the bed.

 _Okay, I guess we’ll just be late then_ , was his last coherent thought.

Yeah, he couldn’t see himself ever getting used to this.

*

Life hadn’t changed as drastically as Frank had originally thought it would. Well, okay. It had changed quite a lot. Gone were the days of secrets and lies, of juggling what he had thought of as two diametrically opposed worlds. And gone were the days of restless nights, of worry and bitterness. He went to work with Gerard. He went home with Gerard. Frank certainly didn’t miss his old house, and nearly felt like he had a place at his new one.

But everything else had stayed pretty much the same. Frank still spent most of his evenings at _The Drummer Boy_. Ray and the other were surprisingly accepting of Gerard – or rather, they were now; following a lot of convincing by Frank and Mikey – and he had become a frequent visitor to the bar. The humans that couldn’t deal with that had long moved on, and the atmosphere was returning to something resembling normal. Gerard, people were learning, was hard to dislike.

Pete, too, and Brendon, inevitably made an appearance most of the nights Gerard did. With the need to hide dispelled, Patrick had re-joined his friends, and Pete was slowly working his way towards acceptance by Joe and Andy. Brendon was the most popular of the three, with his easy going manner and bright smiles, it was effortless for him to win people over.

Frank was still a thrall whenever he and Gerard frequented _The Diner_ \- though that was happening less and less these days – and still a secretary during working hours, but amongst his friends he could be completely and utterly himself.

Things weren’t perfect; not by a long stretch. The enthrallment rates were still increasing, there was still limited work for humans – limited transport, limited rights. That wasn’t going to change anytime soon. But, looking around the bar, Frank found that he wasn’t as disheartened by that fact as he used to be. Things were pretty much okay.

Frank caught Gerard’s eye from his position across the bar, where he was sat talking to Mikey and a dark haired girl, who, if Frank’s suspicions were correct, he would be seeing a lot more of in the future. She didn’t look entirely comfortable in Gerard’s presence, but she was still there, which was what mattered. Gerard smiled at Frank, his whole face seeming to light up, sending a jolt through Frank’s body, all the way to his toes.

Things were more than okay. Yeah, they weren’t perfect, not at all. But if Frank dared say so, they were pretty damn close.

_Finis_


End file.
